The year comes to close - so does Tamasha - Hopefully
THE elusive target is achieved and a final report is sent to the FM that he has all the money he wanted to collect. But does he really have that? How are targets achieved? By fraud, by deceit, by threat, by inducement, by arm twisting, by manipulation!. Every known trick in the trade is employed. Who are they trying to fool? Perhaps no other work force in the world could so successfully fool its boss as the Indian Revenue Service does. The Target fever starts somewhere in September and by December, it reaches its peak. Very intelligent officers who have qualified through the toughest test in the world suddenly lose all their sense of proportion and they browbeat their subordinates into somehow collecting more revenue. Monthly, weekly and daily meetings are held where stupid macro-economic concepts are discussed and strategy devised to collect more revenue. Meetings are held with the assessees when they are requested, cajoled and veiled threats are served along with regulation tea - all for revenue. But Revenue does not get generated in Commissionerates and conference halls. It essentially results from market and the best of the Revenue officers cannot create a market. Every Chief Commissioner and other officers down the line understand this very well, but refuse to admit it and happily carry on the farce year after year in the name of revenue - all because there is no child in the whole department who can shout, "The King has no clothes!"
I wrote this seven years ago in 31 03 2006. Has anything changed? Only the madness has worsened and this year, the CBEC came up with its own contribution of the mega circular which proved to be manna from heaven for the lawyers, many of whom made tons of money even though the Government might not have got a rupee out of the Circular.
Let us hope the new Financial Year brings in more sense and we should see a better and fair tax administration.