Till Tax do us Part

 Taxes and death are a certainty in one's life so said Benjamin Franklin in 1789, "Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes," in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy" 

We the middle class, salaried citizens of our country are the chosen ones to bear the cross of taxes of all kinds, direct and indirect. Not because we love doing it but obviously because we have no choice, the employer is obliged to disburse the salary only after the 'TDS' (Tax deducted at source). The employer is very diligent in this respect, although when it comes to arrears, allowances, bonuses etc they conveniently drag their feet. Indirect taxes are the ones where we shell out money when we go and buy anything from groceries to greens, largely under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). TillI think they might as well rename this as TFL Tax for Living, as the govt hasn't left anything at all which can not be taxed. I am reminded of the story of Raja Harishchandra, the King of Ayodhya who was always truthful, but  when due to a curse of  Sage Vishwamitra he was forced to work as a slave to a Chandal (Crematorium in Charge) had to claim tax from his own wife for cremation of their only son.

Taxation laws are such that the dishonest have plenty of ways to circumvent them and dodge the authorities, the best possible foolproof method is to show losses as a farmer. Agriculture income is as it is exempt but losses are calculated along with your other income. We work round the year but are actually paid for just about eight or nine months as the balance goes towards paying your taxes. You would say taxes are meant to tax you, so big deal. If Income Tax is a bugbear, filing of the IT Return is a herculean task. In jest the Finance Ministry calls the IT Return forms as "saral" meaning simple, which is the best example of an oxymoron, as it is anything but simple. The form is supposed to be pre-filled with all the data which the Govt is collecting about your financial transactions through the Form 26 AS and AIS/TIS etc. We await the Form 16 desperately which gives out the details of the TDS and forms the basis of our return filing process. I thought I was quite a champion myself filing my return without the help of a Chartered Accountant till a few years ago, after all a salaried employee of the Govt of India had everything above board, so filing the return was undertaken not just for myself but also for my parents, sibling and spouse. But a couple of years ago I was advised that I must invest in a second property and that would entitle you to tax rebate on the interest component of home loan. I fell for it and bought a flat, lo and behold from the ITR1 Saral, I was kicked into ITR 2 a not so Saral form and despite my computer literacy and proficiency in basic arithmetic, I was all at sea trying to decipher the filling of this form by myself. Then there are Long Term and Short term Capital Gains, when we invested with Mutual Funds despite the warnings of "Mutual Funds are subject to market risks.."and dabbled in Equity. Again it was more of losses than Gains but they would like you to believe that you may end up actually gaining, so at least call it Gains. I had to seek refuge with the CA finally, who gratefully obliged and in fact dug out certain provisions which helped me save some tax as well. I was wiser naturally, trust the experts, you are after all just a rookie in this big game. 

I think it would be appropriate for the Govt to introduce an oath for all salaried employees, " Will serve with loyalty and integrity till tax do us part!" This year we have been through the ordeal so until next July, just chill.