Arun Jaitley to speak at Harvard

Jaitley is also scheduled to visit New York and Boston to interact with the business community

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will address students of the Harvard University on a visit to the US next month, the varsity said on Friday. Jaitley is scheduled to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington in October.

He is also scheduled to visit New York and Boston to interact with the business community and think-tanks.

At Harvard on October 12, Jaitley would deliver the ‘Mahindra Lecture’ in honour of the late Harish C Mahindra, an alumnus of Harvard College and a visionary leader of business and industry in India, the South Asia Institute of Harvard University said. A day earlier in Boston, Jaitley will be hosted by the US India Strategic Partnership Forum along with National Infrastructure Investment Fund, and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, for a round table with the industry. Jaitley’s trip has not been officially announced.

FM on tax administration

Meanwhile, Jaitley on Friday said the government had taken a slew of measures in the last two-three years to increase transparency and fairness in the tax administration.

He was addressing the second meeting of the Parliamentary consultative committee attached to the finance ministry on ‘Initiatives of IT Department’ in New Delhi.

The minister said a Single Page ITR-1 (SAHAJ) Form was introduced for tax payers having income up to Rs 50 lakh. The tax rate for individuals having income of Rs 2.5-5 lakh was reduced to 5 per cent, from 10 per cent, which is one among the lowest in the world, he said.
 

Jaitley said the concept of ‘no scrutiny’ was introduced for the first time non-business tax payers having income up to Rs 5 lakh, so that “more people are encouraged” to join the tax net and file their returns.

Yashwant Sinha gets back

BJP veteran Yashwant Sinha has accused Jaitley of making “cheap” remarks and said the minister’s criticism of his work amounted to criticism of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In a dig at Jaitley over his “job applicant at 80” barb, Sinha said the finance minister did a great “disservice” to L K Advani as he first quoted the BJP veteran's advice that his remarks should be confined to issues and not involve personalities, and then went on to make a personal attack against him.