Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said Government would 'very closely' focus on sectors prone to chronic service tax evasion like consultancy, IT and real estate.
He said he had noticed chronic tax evasion in various cities (like Chennai) in contract service, maintenance and repair service and sectors like consultancy, IT, real estate, mining, transport operators, advertisement, storage and warehouse, manpower and recruitment and security services.
The Minister said he believed this was true all over the country. There was no reason to believe that if one sector was not paying the tax in Kolkata, that sector would be more compliant in Chennai, he said. “Those who are in these sectors must remember that the (Finance) Department will have a closer look. These are the tax evasion prone sectors. We are going to look at these sectors very, very closely”, he said.
The Minister was speaking at an interactive meet on Trade and Industry, Service Associations and Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme (VCES). Referring to the scheme, he said it was one of the most generous and fair packages offered by the Government. “I am assuming everyone is a honest citizen.You are honest in most actions.