|
Vol.
3 :: No. 9 September, 2001 (Bhadra-Ashoj) |
Editorial
|
|||
|
|||
Editorial |
TAX has been much ‘taxing’ for taxpayers. Despite people paying taxes in huge amount annually, they, one way or the other, are found harassed. The government is mum. Tax officials have been adopting ad-hoc strategy as they even today don’t understand how to treat the TAXPAYERS .
The subject is of TAX. This three letter word is so much dreaded that it is enough to make even the sincerest of the taxpayer chilled. Why ? Again the buzzwords are ‘Corruption, accountability and mismanagement’.
Indeed, it is a matter of great shock to know that even many of the top ten taxpayer companies of our country are still harassed by our taxmen. This is a matter of shame and disgrace for the authorities at the tax department in particular and the government at large. Especially when Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat had proudly declared in his budget speech that the country’s top ten taxpayers would be awarded, that the awardees would be entitled to use the Commercially Important Person (CIP) lounge at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Well, is that all ? Only a special lounge as a reward to persons who pay millions of rupees as tax to the government ?
It is a mistake to suppose that bureaucratic problems arise simply out of management problems and can therefore be solved by administrative reforms alone; they are essentially problems of political governance. If government agencies are to work in a transparent and accountable way, if officials are to be judged by well-defined yardstick of performance, most of the problems will be addressed automatically. Most of all, unless a political regime can itself portray a clean image, it will not have the moral authority to enforce drastic measures to eradicate corruption in administration, more so in the Tax Department where rumors speak of alleged mass corruption.
In a society like ours where rules are routinely violated, multiplying rules and relying on increasingly stricter laws and procedures do not help control corruption, every legal obligation provides a potential source of bribes to officials who enforce it. Ideally, proliferation of laws that will only lead to more noncompliance should be avoided, leaving in place those regulations that have a fair chance of being implemented. For example, Income Tax officials go after regular taxpayers on the pretext of one or the other minor violation of rules, while big tax-dodgers are allowed to go scot-free. Again the electricity supervisors, while they are party to large-scale electricity pilferage, often demand bribes for amicable settlement against domestic electricity subscribers on some fine technical ground. Therefore, the officials concerned should be made accountable not on the basis of whether they have gone by the book in the specific instances, but whether they have demonstrated a minimum sense of proportion in their selective application of law.
Finally, the government should assure, reassure and again reassure not in words but in deeds that it respects and would take care of its taxpayers. Otherwise, the taxpayers would keep on paying tax and still keep their head low.
Business news | Editorial
| Corporate | Cover Feature
| Economy & Policy | Inner-view
|
Recent Launches | Management
| Marketing | Sectoral
| World brief | Main |
Send your feedback to the editor: bizage@ecomail.com.np
1999 © Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. P.O. Box 876, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu,
NEPAL. Tel : 977 1 220 773, 243 566 . Fax: 977 1 225 407. Reproduction in any
form is prohibited without prior permission. No part of the articles which appear
in the internet version on BUSINESSAGE may be reproduced without the
permission of Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. For reprinting rights, please
write to us. Send us your feedback:contact
us . CLICK HERE FOR PAST ISSUE.
This site is best viewed at : 800 X 600 resolution