Tax practitioners' meet calls for accountability in administration

The All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) has called for bringing in accountability in the tax administration system of the country.

The federation said just three per cent of the income tax refunds were made in time and that the remaining 97 per cent of refunds were made either late or after a legal procedure.

A two-day All India conference, 'Taxation-2004' concluded in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

"There is a need for introducing the element of accountability in the Income Tax Act itself. Unless this provision is introduced, there will be little hope for improving tax administration in the country," said N Shivaram, national president of the federation.

Shivaram said there is also no transparency in the quasi-judicial functions of the tax administration. Citing an example, Shivaram said appraisal reports of search and seizure operations should be given to the assessee as a matter of right and this can actually reduce corruption.

However, this is not happening, he said. "Even the tax payers' charter must be made part of the Act, so that it can be enforced," he said.

Raising the issue of the National Law Tribunal at the convention, Ashwin Shah, president of the All Gujarat Federation of Tax Consultants (AGFTC) said while the tax administration has improved considerably over the recent past, the proposal for formation of the National Law Tribunal needs to be opposed.

"Here is a classic case of the executive interfering with the functioning of the judiciary, as retired IAS officials and others will be appointed in the tribunals. I do not think an Income Tax commissioner is the right authority to interpret the law, which should ideally be interpreted by the judiciary," Shah said.

Some of the topics that came up for discussion at the two-day conference included controversies in assessment procedure, analysis of amendments in the Central Sales Tax Act, service tax laws and procedures, business deductions - interests, bad debts business loss and repairs.

Besides the IAFTP and AGFTC, the other bodies that took part in the conference included the Income Tax Bar Association, Chartered Accountants' Association, Ahmedabad, Tax Advocates' Association, Ahmedabad and Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association.

"There is a need to immediately increase the percentage of refunds made in time to at least ten per cent from the existing three per cent," Shivaram said.

He said according to the Kelkar Committee report, there are only 52,000 individual assessees who have shown an income of Rs 10 lakh and above.

"According to the IAFTP, this number should be more than ten lakh. The department needs to take several steps, including promoting voluntary tax compliance, in to achieve this target," Shivaram said.