Arun Jaitley's observations on some fundamental tax principles

The concept of benefit of doubt in criminal law is not applicable to fiscal law, where merit is the only consideration

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay 

In a conference on October on indirect taxes, Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitley made some fundamental observations (Business Standard, October 2, page 4). He said, “You officers don’t have to extort taxes from those not liable to pay… as tax people, you are not entitled to invite fear. You have to invite respect that you are somebody who wants people to comply with national duty”.  This is a much-required assertion by the FM, which will strengthen the hands of officers who suffer from the phobia of always charging the higher rate of duty. Such ...
First Published: Sun, November 05 2017. 23:43 IST