The tax department discussed various strategies to augment revenues
Due to the introduction of e-governance, transparency has increased and the IT department has got more visibility into the assets of the companies. The tax department has drawn up a detailed game plan and is expected to look at various new avenues to collect taxes. Due to the sluggish economy, the income of the tax department had diminished and it was a tough task for them to mop up revenues.
The vacant flats with real estate companies are considered as “stock-in-trade” and the court orders also have supported the same. They are liable to be taxed as income from property. The IT department is expected to take a fresh look at the segment.
Top officials from the tax department discussed various strategies to augment revenues at a meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley. The government is keen to ensure that the revenue targets are met to enable it to keep the fiscal deficit within the target of 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). Since the GDP had gone down during the slowdown of the economy, the tax department’s treasury also had to take the hit.
The resources for various social welfare programmes also come from the tax department’s treasury and due to the lack of finances, these programmes also had to suffer.
Source- The Times of India
