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New income tax bill to be introduced soon, says FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that an income tax bill would be introduced in Parliament in the winter session and the country would have a new income tax law by next year.

Chidambaram said an expert group, working closely with the Central Board of Direct Taxes, has rewritten the present IT law. ''It will be thrown open for public debate and we are welcoming all suggestions and changes in the law. After finalisation, the bill will be introduced in Parliament in the winter session and we hope to have a brand new income tax law next year,'' he said.

The finance minister was addressing a seminar in New Delhi on the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme 1997, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

''We have made some changes in the prosecution sections of the present law and these will be discussed in Parliament when the bill is introduced,'' he said.

Chidambaram stated that his effort would be to make India a nation of tax payers from a nation of tax evaders. ''In a country with over 500,000 companies, as many as 200,000 companies file no returns at all. This will not go unnoticed and unpunished,'' he said.

The finance ministry, he said, has got a software which can take in raw data from over 200 different sources and build a family tree which will throw up names of all the people genuinely belonging to the family as well as specify benami (false) names of firms and individuals.

This software was being demonstrated to the Central Board of Direct Taxes on Thursday. ''I have seen it and am confident of its success. Technology is fast catching up and the people who do not make use of the VDIS will not be left scot free,'' he added.

Regarding confidentiality of the scheme, Chidambaram assured it, adding that there had not been a single case of breach of confidentiality in the past and there will be none in the future as well. ''You can take my word on that immunity and confidentiality is as complete as can be,'' he said.

He also stated that the VDIS scheme, like all other ideas, needs to be marketed. ''It is an idea for ushering in cultural compliance to tax laws and if we are able to sell it, India will move up to become the fourth largest economy by AD 2000.''

UNI