Arun Jaitley urges citizens to pay taxes honestly
Union Minister Arun Jaitley today urged citizens to pay their due share of taxes "honestly" to reduce dependence on oil as a revenue source. He virtually ruled out any cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel saying it could prove to be counter-productive. Jaitley asked the non-salaried class to improve tax payment record as it's keeping India far from being a tax-compliant society.
Government's tax-GDP ratio has improved from 10% to 11.5%
In a Facebook post titled "The Economy and Markets Reward Structural Reforms and Fiscal Prudence", Jaitley said in last four years, the central government's tax-GDP ratio has improved from 10% to 11.5%. And, half of the growth 0.72% of GDP, accounts for an increase in the non-oil tax-GDP ratio. The level of non-oil taxes to GDP at 9.8% in 2017-18 is highest since 2007-08.
Chidambaram's suggestion to cut tax on oil is trap-suggestion: Jaitley
In an apparent dig at senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's remark that tax on oil should be cut by Rs. 25/liter, Jaitley retorted, "This is a trap suggestion." Without naming Chidambaram, Jaitley noted his "distinguished predecessor" had "never endeavored to do so himself". "It is intended to push India into an unmanageable debt, something which the UPA government left as its legacy," he added.
Honest tax payers compensate for evaders too, says Jaitley
"The tragedy of the honest tax payer is that he not only pays his own share of taxes but also has to compensate for the evader," Jaitley said. Jaitley said the central government collects taxes in the form of income tax, its own share of GST and the customs duty. 42% of the central government taxes are shared with the states, Jaitley said.
