It's not unusual for governments to be left red-faced after meeting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank. The list of 'conditions' attached to future loans grows with most of them difficult to swallow. What is rare is for a head of government to start looking for ways to avoid such embarrassment. And so the good citizens of the country must be ready for newer forms of taxation as the search for a balance in the deficit takes on urgency.
The Prime Minister made it clear in a meeting with revenue officers that she wants more mobilization of resources and that the 'overnight' rich should be probed closely for sources of funds as well as whether they have paid their taxes. One hopes that will include the ones who seem to be doing exceedingly well for themselves in spite of having declared limited source of income.
The revenue officials believe that the new proposal of property tax will go down well politically as it essentially affects a small proportion of the populace with huge disposable income. A view in the letters column of a daily suggested an inheritance tax akin to that in vogue in the UK that makes it very difficult for off-spring to automatically enjoy assets of their parents simply because of the tax burden. The answer is to sell it off shortly before or after the mortgage period. Unfortunately the inheritance law traditionally is based on the Islamic Shari for the majority Muslims and the minority Hindu Common Law and cannot easily be overhauled.
There could further taxation based on the number of vehicles that a household has and, as an extension based on the number of users per family. The concept is to try and get at least four passengers to a car, thus saving on fuel and cutting down on numbers of vehicles. It sounds good on paper as it conforms to the idea of transport pooling and even public transport pooling. It has been the security issues that prevent people from sharing CNGs especially during odd-hours but if a fleet of meter-driven CNGs are available the module will be workable as evident in neighbouring Kolkata. Otherwise, if single passengers hire these vehicles on the basis of privacy, the purpose is lost and becomes discriminatory.
There's also the issue of the so-called VIPs, CIPs, diplomats and government servants entitled to transport. Unless they lead by example it could be a mess of cars and microbuses hiding behind the infamous "Press, on special export, communications, telephone etc duty" and boldly parked in front of schools and such.
All in all there is a wind of change in the year. Whether it will be positive or not is another matter altogether.
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=130924&date=2011-03-31
The Prime Minister made it clear in a meeting with revenue officers that she wants more mobilization of resources and that the 'overnight' rich should be probed closely for sources of funds as well as whether they have paid their taxes. One hopes that will include the ones who seem to be doing exceedingly well for themselves in spite of having declared limited source of income.
The revenue officials believe that the new proposal of property tax will go down well politically as it essentially affects a small proportion of the populace with huge disposable income. A view in the letters column of a daily suggested an inheritance tax akin to that in vogue in the UK that makes it very difficult for off-spring to automatically enjoy assets of their parents simply because of the tax burden. The answer is to sell it off shortly before or after the mortgage period. Unfortunately the inheritance law traditionally is based on the Islamic Shari for the majority Muslims and the minority Hindu Common Law and cannot easily be overhauled.
There could further taxation based on the number of vehicles that a household has and, as an extension based on the number of users per family. The concept is to try and get at least four passengers to a car, thus saving on fuel and cutting down on numbers of vehicles. It sounds good on paper as it conforms to the idea of transport pooling and even public transport pooling. It has been the security issues that prevent people from sharing CNGs especially during odd-hours but if a fleet of meter-driven CNGs are available the module will be workable as evident in neighbouring Kolkata. Otherwise, if single passengers hire these vehicles on the basis of privacy, the purpose is lost and becomes discriminatory.
There's also the issue of the so-called VIPs, CIPs, diplomats and government servants entitled to transport. Unless they lead by example it could be a mess of cars and microbuses hiding behind the infamous "Press, on special export, communications, telephone etc duty" and boldly parked in front of schools and such.
All in all there is a wind of change in the year. Whether it will be positive or not is another matter altogether.
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=130924&date=2011-03-31
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