INDIA's Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Finance has advised the
Department of Revenue (DOR) to levy green tax on different products and services
keeping in view the fact that the country is over-populated and has scarce
natural resources.
In a
report presented to Parliament on 22 April, PSC has also recommended certain
initiatives for the Government to recover unaccounted/black money stashed abroad
especially in tax heavens.
PSC
says it enquired from DOR about the prospects of levying green tax to mobilize
more resources and to widen the tax base in the country.
The
Finance Ministry replied that in Budget 2013-14, excise duty of Sports Utility
Vehicles (SUVs) including utility vehicles has been increased from 27% to 30%,
according to the report on DOR's ‘Demand for Grants' for financial year 2013-14.
While
noting this hike in excise duty could be termed as a “Green Tax”, PSC
recommended “that in a populous country with scarce resources, it is necessary
that such progressive and innovative levies may be imposed not only with a view
to mobilizing revenue but also to foster environmentally sustainable policies.
The Committee would like the Ministry to explore more such avenues of revenue
mobilization which would also be socially desirable.”
As
regards Finance Ministry's initiatives to recover unaccounted or black money
within and outside the country, PSC observed: “action / investigation on the
names reported by HSBC on unaccounted money stashed abroad has still not been
concluded.”
The
report continues: “The Committee, therefore, desires that expeditious action be
taken to finalise the investigation in this matter and a report submitted to the
Committee within one month on the outcome thereof. In this context, the
Committee also recommends that economic intelligence should be better developed
and bipartite agreements concluded with regard to plugging generation of
unaccounted money through tax havens.”
Referring to the introduction of a new tax named Commodities Transaction
Tax (CTT) in the Indian Budget for 2013-14, PSC recommended that the Finance
Ministry should conduct a study on the impact of CTT, especially on food
inflation, over a period of one year.
PSC
also recommended a slew of other initiatives by DOR to enhance tax receipts and
tax collection efficiency.
|
