Expressing concern on tax base not growing in sync with income growth as well as wealth, a Parliamentary panel has directed the Government to make extra efforts for widening the tax base.
In its report presented in Parliament on Monday, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by BJP Yashwant Sinha observed that tax base has not grown vis-à-vis income growth.
The committee said that the Permanent Account Number (PAN) has been allotted to more than 11 crore entities, while income tax returns have been filed by only 3.5 crore.
Further, a huge gap has also been noticed between number of entities to whom Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) has been allotted vis-a-vis number of deductors filing TDS submissions.
“The Committee therefore desire that strenuous efforts should be made by the (Revenue) Department both in terms of policy as well as enforcement action in widening the tax base, which obviously is not commensurate with the growth in income and wealth witnessed over the years,” the report said.
In 2011-12, assessess in the income slab of up to Rs 5 lakh comprised of 98.38 per cent of total assesses. While above 20 lakh slab comprises of a meagre 0.38 per cent of total assesses.
The panel headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that situation presented before it clearly suggest income tax base in revenue terms is “rather narrow” which has adversely affected tax buoyancy.