Apropos Rajiv Shastri's article "How 'Arthakranti' taxes the system" (January 15), the impracticability of changing the tax system could not be overemphasised in the current environment where the economy is at its worst. Radical changes in the existing tax system can only be made gradually. However, a debate can be initiated on the abolition of income tax, at least on individuals to start with. The loss of revenue, thus, could be more than compensated by reinforcing the compliance of other taxes, viz excise, value added tax, service tax and so on. The surplus of employees from the income tax department could be effectively used to implement a two-tier system of vigilance to ensure 100 per cent compliance. The introduction of the long overdue Goods and Services Tax should be made a prerequisite for this to happen.
Naresh Saxena New Delhi
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