Salaried class angry as rich escape without paying tax: BJP MP

There is anger among the salaried class who represent the majority of tax payers, as wealthy people manage to avoid paying taxes using loopholes, a BJP member said today and sought steps to check the loose ends and broaden the tax net.
Raising the issue during a discussion on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, Kirit Somaiya referred to super rich businessmen and said they are in the list of richest people in the world but did not pay adequate taxes.
He referred to income tax details brought out by the government recently to make his point that almost 98 percent of tax payers were salaried employees and self-employed people.

The BJP member also sought an all-party meeting to deliberate on anomalies in tax laws.
He referred to the Panama Papers and allegations of money-routing involving the kin of a former finance minister to make his point about lacunae in tax laws that allowed people to channel their money to abroad.
"Highest tax payers in our country are film stars or cricketers, not people who are among the richest in the world... We must take steps to increase the tax net. The richest manages to escape. There is anger in the salaried class. We should remove these loopholes," Somaiya said.

Without taking the name of Vijay Mallya, Somaiya said he owned houses in many countries but it should be found out how much taxes he paid.
Somaiya also expressed unhappiness over the lack of use of information technology in the government including the finance ministry, saying this was the situation despite having a "most technology-friendly" person in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India being a leader in the IT sector.
Jithender Reddy (TRS) Jitendra Choudhury (CPI-M), P Mithun Reddy (YSR Congress) and Bulo Mandal (RJD) also spoke during the debate.