P.K.'s view on Indian Tax system. Enjoy it!

KARNITI  PART  69

P.K.’s view on Indian Tax system.

Enjoy it!

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, Aamir Khan’s recently released movie, P.K., is in Limelight. Tell me, if this character “P.K.” participates in a T.V. talk show on the topic of Taxation, what fun it will create? In this way we can spread awareness of taxation among people for following tax laws.

Krishna (Fictional Character):  Arjuna, in the movie, Aamir Khan has played the role of an alien coming from another “Gola” (planet). After coming to India, he portrays his opinions on fearfulness, superstitions and castism in an amusing manner. So now let’s correlate various scenes from the movie with income tax, sales tax and other taxes.    

Arjuna: Krishna, when “P.K.” landed on earth, his credit card and PAN card were stolen. So, he tries to understand Indian tax laws. So what could be his opinion on tax laws?

Krishna: Arjuna, “.P.K.” enquires about PAN card from various people and he gets amazed after realising the actual situation. He is surprised to know that only 3.45 crore people pay income tax from the population of 125 crores and most of the people have taken PAN for fun and many people use fake PAN. After knowing about this P.K. says, “Humare Gole (planet) pe koi juth nahi bolta, aur hum confusiya gaye hai, yaha ka tax system dekh ke. Yaha kaun tax bhar raha hai aur kon nahi ye samaj nahi aata, thappa kaha hai tax bhar ne walo ka, kya pata.” Further he expresses his opinion on the feelings of Indian citizens on fear, unawareness, tax evasion etc. in questionable and playful manner. When he goes to police station to lodge a complaint of his stolen PAN card, he is enquired about his Income Tax Return, bank account and books of accounts etc. He didn’t understand anything and after overcoming his problem he gets his PAN card back.

Arjuna: Krishna, How does “P.K.” understand the color of money?

Krishna: Arjuna, when “P.K.” goes to purchase carrot and battery for his tape recorder the shopkeeper tells him in black it is for Rs. 200 and in white it is for Rs. 225. “P.K.” gets surprised and doesn’t understand the difference of black and white. Then the shopkeeper explains to him that there are two types of money i.e. Black money and White money. If the purchaser wants a bill of Rs. 225 for his purchase then the seller has to pay sales tax & income tax and then it becomes white money. If the purchase is for Rs. 200 then bill will not be issued and shopkeeper will evade tax and hence it is black money. That means black money is tax evaded money. In India there is huge portion of black money. “P.K.” by seeing this black money says “Wrong numberva pe call lagat rahe hum sab, agar tax nahi bharoge toh lul ho jayegi Desh ki arthik halat.”

Arjuna: Great Krishna, What are some funny things of income tax?

Krishna: Arjuna, when P.K goes in the temple of Income Tax (Income Tax Office) and understands provisions, he gets astonished after understanding how the following provisions are:

1. Taxpayers who file income tax returns regularly, to them the department sends scrutiny notices, but who do not file returns, what happens to them? Hence, P.K. thinks, “Yaha to bolte kuch hai aur matlab kuch aur nikalta hai, jo tax bhar raha hai wohi mar raha hai.”

2. Income tax department charges 12% p.a. rate of interest to the tax payers , but in case of refund gives only an interest @ 6% p.a. P.K thinks,”Dusro se lete ho jaada aur dete ho kam, e kaisa hisab hua bhaiya?”

3. If a person who deducts TDS has not paid the same or filed the wrong information then the person whose TDS is deducted will not get the credit of it. P.K’s thoughts on this,”karni kisi aur ki aur bharni kisi aur ki.”

4. In case of property transaction if property is sold for less than stamp duty value then the seller has to pay income tax on the difference. However the actual sales value is much more than the stamp duty value. And the difference is taken in cash as black money. After seeing these cash transactions P.K thinks that, “Cash me aish karte hai saare.”

Looking at these contrasting situations he says “Hamare gole par bahut hi simple tax system hai. Hum manager ke bharose nahi rehte, khud hi tax return bhar dete hai. Notice photice ka jhanjat hi nahi hai humare yaha. Phir bhi iss gole (Desh) main kar data kar bharta hai aur hasta hai yah badi acchi baat hai hum salam karta hu kar data ko. Apni duty nibhane me hi beauty hai bhaiya” Pay tax and relax.

Arjuna: Kya baat hai Krishna, What are the contradictions in case of VAT from the point of view of “P.K.”?

Krishna: Arjuna, when P.K purchases goods, he understands the difference between with bill and without bill. So he comes to notice following contradictions in VAT:

1. While paying tax if tax payer purchases from Maharashtra then he gets VAT set off. However, if from whom he purchases, has not paid tax or does not file return then the purchaser will not get set off. Even he has to pay interest and penalty on it. Looking at this “P.K.” says “Yaha chor uchako chod samajdaro ko saja ho rahi hai bhaiya.”

2. Tax payer appeals for his justice but he needs to pay part payment for the appeal to the government i.e. to get justice he needs to spend first. “P.K.” says “Insaaf pane k liye paisa kharch karna padta hai iha. Hala ki yah muft milna chahiye varna garibo ko toh kabhi insaaf nahi milega”

Arjuna: “P.K.”s opinion is right Krishna, now tell me views of “P.K.” on some contradictions in Service Tax?

Krishna: Arjuna, when “P.K.” goes to an air conditioned hotel, looking at service tax rate 12.36% his hunger vanishes and when he goes to a non-air conditioned hotel service tax was not levied in the bill amount. He says “Arey thandi hawa khane pe bhi is gole pe (Bharat Desh) tax lag raha hai bhaiyya, humare yaha toh muft mai milti hai thandi hawa!” Then he understood the controversies related to interest charged in service tax. The amount of interest which is being charged on service tax has risen to a great extent. If the tax payer delays the payment of service tax by one year then rate of interest is charged at 30% p.a. on the amount of service tax to be paid. Seeing this “P.K.” says “Tum toh dan dan pheke ja rahe ho, uchalne ki bhi limit hoti hai.”

Upon Seeing the controversies related to various taxes such as Excise, Customs, LBT, Entertainment tax, RTO tax, Profession Tax, etc. P.K fainted. When he woke up he said, “Yeh sach hai bhaiyya ki zindagi mai do chije picha nahi chodti ek hai maut aur dusra hai tax. Sare Bramand mai jitney gole (planets) hai, usse jyaada toh tax dikh rehe hai iha. Ab toh lagat hai ki aage direct tax code aur Goods and Service tax aane k baad hi kuch phursat hogi. Nahi toh aasman se nikle aur khajur pe atke ki halat ho jayegi sabki.” 

Arjuna: Krishna, What should tax payer learn from “P.K”s point of view?

Krishna: Arjuna, “P.K.” is a character who thinks in a simple and pleasant way. He does not want any complications even if the subject is related to tax laws. It means to follow tax laws as they are. However as India is an Agrarian country most of the people depend on agriculture and agricultural income is tax free. Therefore, the tax structure is complicated. Government should not make these laws complicated. “P.K.” se ham aane wale sal main tension free rahna sikhe. From this story one should learn that,”Bhaiya sab baat ki ek baat “Kar” bhala to ho bhala. “P.K” se ham bahut kuch sikhe”.

Wish you all a very happy new year!

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