The Hindu Business Line : Look at the human side, judge tells taxmen

URGING tax professionals to look more closely at the human side of the job, Mr Justice Anurabha Barua of the Calcutta High Court said here on Saturday that "the purposive interpretation of law was to help society."

Stressing on the urgent need to "get the mindset right, free from bias, prejudices," he said all professionals, lawyers or judges, as part of the legal process, must endeavour to strive for human justice, with love, tolerance and compassion. This is particularly required in the prevailing scenario of a kind of fear psychosis among taxpayers about the collection process.

Participating in the inaugural session of a national workshop on `Role of tax professionals - Compliances under direct taxes,' organised by the Direct Taxes Professionals' Association (DTPA) here , Mr Justice Barua said in today's agonised world, taxes or no taxes, one must learn to think as human beings, and speak the language of humanity.

Pointing out that the world over, humanity is in agony, he said law is an integral part of society, and it fell on the members of the judiciary to uphold the fundamental rights of all citizens. Later, talking to Business Line at the sidelines of the workshop, Mr Justice Barua said that what is now required is "judicial dynamism and not activism."

Meanwhile, Mr D. B. Desai, Chartered Accountant and Expert in indirect taxes, speaking on `Accounting vis-à-vis taxation (Sections 145 & 145A),' at the first technical session, said income tax and accounting principles go hand in hand to ensure that revenue leakages for the Government do not take place regularly.

Attempting to answer the frequently asked question, whether the Income-Tax Act should march in line with accounting principles or should computation of income be strictly as per statutory provisions, he said there should be no conflict between the two. Examining the issue of unlimited powers to Assessing Officers (AOs) of the Department under Section 145, to make additions to income for assessment purpose, he said there is a need for conclusive evidence. The onus of establishing any concealment of income should rest on the Revenue Department and not on assessee. He cited many judicial pronouncements to support his viewpoint that a "subjective satisfaction" cannot be applied by an AO to conclude that all accounts are incorrect, and hence, there is concealment of income. Mere suspicion is not enough to invoke provision of Section 145, he concluded.

Mr N. M. Ranka, Senior Advocate, Jaipur, and former president of All-India Federation of Tax Practitioners, commenting on assessment or re-assessment under Section 147, said that a separate notice under Section 148 of the I-T Act is required to be issued by the AO for each assessment year for which the income has escaped assessment.