News- President calls for war against black money

President calls for war against black money

The President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today said that the war against black money has to be fought both domestically and through cross border measures. Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the year long celebrations commemorating 150 years of Income Tax in the country, Mrs. Patil emphasized for better global co-operation to track down evaders taking shelter in other countries.

The President said, an environment of voluntary tax compliance has to be fostered and nurtured in the country. She said, the importance of meeting tax obligations has to be ingrained in the minds of children as they can be made tax responsible citizens of tomorrow. Speaking on broad policy issues on taxation, Mrs. Patil said the interface with compliant taxpayers, especially small taxpayers, senior citizens and pensioners must be initiated and maintained on a continuous basis, for a feedback on difficulties being faced by them. She said the use of electronic modes for filing returns should be further popularised for greater efficiency.
The President expressed confidence that with the widening of the present taxpayer base by about 3.5 crore taxpayers, the direct tax-to-GDP ratio will rise beyond the present figure of 6.1 per cent.

The President also released a book on the completion of 150 years of Income Tax.
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, E- governance initiatives are being taken for better management of taxes. He said direct tax collection is about 56 per cent of total tax collection. Mr. Mukherjee said the Direct tax code, DTC, when enacted, will further simplify tax regime and will be more transparent and tax payer friendly.