Expect income tax harassment to increase over the next few months

Govt's free food package, brought into effect since Covid outbreak in 2020, and RBI's lesser-than-expected dividend for FY22 might make the govt push the taxman to further augment revenues

Inflation is one of those things where the government is damned if it tries to do anything about it and damned if it does nothing. Between the RBI and the government, the economic policymakers have decided to be damned by doing, by not only hiking interest rates but now also cutting fuel taxes.

The question now is how are they going to navigate the repercussions as Finance Minister’s announcements on Saturday are likely to have a significant impact on government finances. 

It is unlikely that government will be able to meet its fiscal deficit target for the year without some