Tax Horror Scope 2013
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.JANUARY 2013: The New Year brings a lot of confusion and frenetic activity as the Board finds that Revenue collection is not as much as it wants it to be and Board Members move in to the orbits of Chief Commissioners and Chief Commissioners will hamper the smooth movements of the Commissioners. There will be utter confusion all over and assessees will be in for audit, anti evasion, adjudication, arrears collection, attachment, auction, arbitrary spot realisation, allergic pre-deposit, appeals and an altogether all time low level of happiness. Try to be as far away from Taxmen as possible. Take your spouse for a three-month holiday in Mali and enjoy the comforts of a world-class airport without exorbitant user charges.
For Tax Officers: The Cadre review may come next month - make plans for your promotion and posting. In the meantime, you will be harassed for meeting the targets in Revenue, adjudication, arrears, disposal, reports…. New Year Resolution - not to get upset by the CCs firing on phone and during meetings - issue demand notices at least a month before due date - adjudicate cases within three months of issuance (with or without reply or personal hearing) - arrears recovery immediately after confirmation of all demands - and not to forget - get hold of Ravanna Bhairam to set the next sensitive posting...even Nhava Sheva will do!
For Lawyers and consultants: you will have plenty of work in opinions, replies to Show Cause Notices, personal hearing, appeals. If you get a case, it is bound to stay with you for ten years - even the asssessee may not survive the case.
February and March 2013: The Stars and Planets remain exactly same - where they were in January 2013 and things will remain the same for all. Tax officers can surely expect their cadre review next month and lawyers will notice their career graph shooting northward. The Budget is sure to hike taxes and cause more misery all around. The Negative List will go more negative and while negatively affecting the Trade, it will be a positive list for the Departmental Officers and Lawyers.
April 2013: Assessees and officers - relax; there is no tension of arrears and targets. The cadre review is under active consideration. The misplaced file has just been traced and DOPT is working hard to find new objections, but by next month, it is sure to be cleared.
There would be hardly any Show Cause Notices and adjudication, but lawyers will strangely find themselves busy - after all, there is a mountain of old cases.
May 2013: The much delayed transfer orders will come and officers will have no time for anything else. Peace for the assessees. DOPT will send back the Cadre Review file with some more objections. Both the Boards will work hard to reply to the queries. Finance Bill will be passed without any debate and all those retrospective amendments will sail into the statute silently. Assessees to take note of the beneficial retrospective amendments before the six month period lapses. Lawyers and Consultants to advise their clients accordingly. Restaurants will charge service charges and Board will mistake it for Service Tax and advise not to pay.
June 2013: Amendments to transfer orders will pour in. Both the Boards will be very angry that from Chief Commissioner to Sepoy, nobody obeys their orders. All circulars about serious view by the Board are derisively ignored. In certain places, new officers would have joined and new techniques of harassing assessees are being formulated. Both the Boards have finalised their replies to the DOPT on Cadre Review and they may be sent any day. Assessees have still not understood the Budget and so are the officers. Lawyers will continue to flourish with or without knowledge.
July 2013: The confusion created by the Finance Act will be compounded by clarifications issued by the Board. Cases will pile up at all stages - Tribunal, High Courts...except Commissioners (Appeals) who will order full pre-deposit and then confirm the demand within a week. No stay can be got from the Tribunal, as most of the Benches do not have enough Members. Audit and Show Cause Notices will come with routine regularity, meaning assessees have appointed a SCN receiver in their office and also meaning that lawyers will have a good time. Cadre review is scheduled for next month.
August 2013: You will find that following the Law to its last letter is not a guarantee against cases by the Department. Whatever you do, they can find a guilty mind and intention to evade duty in you. The friendly officers whom you interact with will use the foulest language to accuse you of being a cheat and evader. Mild tension on revenue shortfall will be visible - means you assessees are going to be harassed. Don't ever make a short payment - they will attach and try to sell your factory. Stars keep shining on the lawyers and Consultants. The much awaited cadre review is referred to a committee. The CBEC is likely to have a male Member.
September 2013: All transactions with the excise department are made online mandatorily. You will be asked to visit the offices only once in a day from Monday to Friday. They are trying to save on postage. All audit objections, Show Cause Notices, adjudication/appellate orders will be delivered by hand only. You have to go and collect them and pay a small fee to the lower staff for their generosity in handing over those papers to you. Lawyers bull run continues.
October 2013: The ST-3 returns are due this month and so are the half yearly dues. Happy times ahead. The Budget cell has been set up in the Board and the inputs in rainbow colours are called for from field formations. Time to put some imagination into action. Photocopies of Nil reports are taken by the dozen for those ‘Special Watch' matters. Assessees should be ready with the O-41 entries relating to their unit and details of past audit, pending audit objections, periodical SCNs, overtime fees etc. etc. and also spare the services of their excise assistant to attend to the Revenue officers whims and fancies.
November 2013: It is Deepavali time and everyone wants to make his or her Diwali as illuminating as possible. So, the “bank men” (read CBI) (the dept. Code word) are in action for a possible rocket bomb demand from that illuminating revenue officer. Incidentally, the Vigilance week is also being celebrated but that is not a big issue - an oath is invariably taken and a report sent that the oath has been administered. A few vigilance and trap cases here and there and the show goes on and on and on.... No show cause notices to any assessee this month - no one wants to spoil his Diwali baksheesh!Little dull for lawyers.
December 2013: The year is coming to an end and for the Revenue officers it is time to exhaust all those Casual leaves which are shown as not taken on the record. That's because all the leaves taken earlier in the year were French leaves. Time to also wish the bosses a very Happy New Year just to remain in their good books - some bosses are really finicky and for them being wished on their birthdays and the New Year is more important than anything else. As for assessees, they plan to undertake a New Year resolution - no entertaining the officers with office vehicles, guest house, office assistants! Consultants and Advocates are vacationing in these guest houses and celebrating the New Year bash. Cadre review got stuck somewhere and now it will come only after the 2014 elections.
On the whole, 2013 is going to be a horrible horror story for the businessmen. Will 2014 be better? Not really - but most of them will get used to the horror and learn to live with it.
For the Departmental officers, it would be the same life with no work, no promotions, no cadre review, unjust transfers for some justified transfers for the commercially competent - the solace is - all the powers wasted on you can be misused to harass the assessees.
In the process, the Lawyers and consultants will have a good time - they can smile all the way to the bank or whichever place they keep their money in.
Disclaimer: while every effort has been taken to study the movement of stars accurately to make the above predictions, we cannot assure you that the events will occur exactly in the same months as predicted above. It is quite possible that the evil effects of a month may spill over into the next month and the next month. Our expert astrologer informs us that no amount of penance or prayers can drive away the evil effects - they are part of doing business in India.