There can be no denying of the fact that, if none would pay, the government tills would be empty. It is equally true that, in a developing economy with low per capita income, all those who can afford should put their shoulders to meeting the financial needs of their government.
At the same time, the requirements of equity have to be met within the limits set by the available room for tax martyrs. lt is here that the degree of consideration which needs to be shown to particular segments of the taxpayers is conspicuous by its absence.
This Segment is constituted by the salaried class and the lower middle class of which it is apart. They are the ones who are not guilty of evasion. Tax proceeds from this class can be computed in advance and the realisations would not fall short of expectations.
They are also the tax martyrs. Others may or may not pay taxes, but the pound of flesh due from them gets collected. In the last budget, they lost certain exemptions on long-term investment. Worse they got hit more by the clubbing of certain incomes.
The next budget at least should treat them more kindly. First, the exemption limit for personal income tax should be raised to Rs 40,000 from the present Rs 28,000. Also the initial rate of tax of 20 per cent is high. It was only 5 per cent in 1970-71. Justice demands that the 20 per cent rate is brought down to 10 per cent.
It does not require actuarial expertise to fault the present norms for standard deduction. Class III and Class IV employees, assistants, junior officers, supervisors and head clerks, as pointed out by a knowledgeable critic, whose gross emoluments (inclusive of perquisites) are Rs 40,000 are liable to tax.
Some relief needs to be provided to them by raising the level of standard deduction to Rs 20,000 from the present Rs 12.000. Those at this level have a functional status to maintain. The present norms of exemption are of little help to them in this respect.
At the higher reaches, the rate of personal income tax should not exceed 30 per cent. The rate now is 40 per cent. The salaried class in this higher tier of income will be grateful if the 30 per cent rate applies to a total income in excess of Rs. 2 lakh.
There are persons who will consider these suggestions heretical. They would say that, in India, the tax payers are just 0.07 per cent of the population and that, unlike as in the developed countries, tax compliance in India is unsatisfactory. Even then the mole cannot be mistaken for the mountain
There are the other martyrs — the smoking public. The boss in the car pays a 47 per cent duty on the cigarette he smokes but his driver 77 per cent on his brand. Is it because the government feels that the lungs only of the boss should be saved from cancer and not the lungs of his driver?
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