Nirmala Sitharaman lists down measures to tackle tax appeal for pre-GST cases

The Union Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman while speaking at the ‘Republic Summit 2019’ assured the people that she would pump money into the Indian economy by the ways and means suggested during the budget to eventually make India a 5 trillion-dollar economy. This comes as an audience member and participant Mohandas Pai asked Nirmala Sitharaman about her plans on making India a huge economy amidst the wide G-sec and repo rate in the country.  He also put forth the worries of the longstanding cases on tax assessment before her and asked her to develop a smoot appeal mechanism. 

Mohandas Pai puts forth his queries before Finance Minister 

Padma Shri Awardee, Mohandas Pai, who participated in the ‘Republic Summit 2019’ asked the Union Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman about the “6.5 lakh crores stuck up in tax disputes in the courts”. He said that the “cases in the courts keep on getting adjourned because of the absence of the authorities from the Finance ministry. The Indian citizens along with the International community does not have faith in the tax assessment system. India had a broken assessment system and I credited you (Finance Minister) for fixing it. But at the same time, I want to request you (Minister) to look after the appeal system and said that the appeal system has been broken for 15 years.” Apart from this, he put forth another question about the 5 trillion-dollar economy and said that India doesn't have enough resources to become that, he claimed that the G-sec rate and repo rate are very wide showing the lack of money. Pai while saying all of this asked if the government was willing to issue bonds 30 to 50 years on international bonds from any country to raise money.  

Read: Republic Summit 2019: PM Modi lists his govt's endeavours which put 'Nation First'

Read: FULL SPEECH: At Republic Summit, PM Modi makes a powerful case for putting 'Nation First'

Nirmala Sitharaman on 5 trillion-dollar economy & tax assessment 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while responding to this question said that “When it comes to money not being available, I have made some announcements in budget and we will certainly follow that up. As regards to the pending cases that are in the court, particularly the cases of the pre-GST era have been hanging. I have made it a point to tell that there will be a cheque box system through which clients themselves can say, this is how much is due, your claim is this and I am willing to settle down for this much and we are willing to go. That is called by the larger name of ‘Sabka Vishwas’. The deadline for that is December 31. Whoever wants to come up for that scheme, it is a transparent process of settling. With regards to other cases, I have just asked the ministry to review what is the total number of cases, where are they pending, and how much is due from them. I am sure I will work out something for that also.” 

Read: At Republic Summit, PM Modi illuminates the significance of India's Moment-Nation First theme

Read: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Republic Summit: India's vibrant youth will take us forward