Cong snubbed again, FM says new I-T form is saral

The Congress has been snubbed again by its own government. Despite the party8217;s demand for the new Saral form to be withdrawn, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the new Income Tax format was 8216;8216;easy to fill8217;8217;.

The Congress has been snubbed again by its own government. Despite the party8217;s demand for the new Saral form to be withdrawn, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the new Income Tax format was 8216;8216;easy to fill8217;8217;. He also did not rule out making the new format mandatory from next year. Earlier, the Union Government had rejected the Congress8217; demand for a partial roll back of oil price hike.

In its enthusiasm to be seen as friendly to the aam aadmi, the Congress had protested the government decisions to raise petrol prices and introduce a new format for filing tax returns. The party had demanded the withdrawal of the new form, saying it was complicated. 8216;8216;The Saral form must be simple as its name claims,8217;8217; party spokersperson Abhishek Singhvi had said. When the government declared that the new format was voluntary this year, the party had even taken credit for the decision, saying the government had responded to the party8217;s concern.

But talking on the issue for the first time since the tussle started, Chidambaram said the form was easy to fill and was introduced for being amenable to electronic filing. 8216;8216;One of the reasons why form 2F was introduced was that it was computer friendly, one could file it electronically.8217;8217;

Though the Minister pointed out that it was voluntary for tax assessees to fill the new form during the current assessment year, he did not specify whether the form would be made mandatory from the next assessment year. 8216;8216;Let us see, how many file the form voluntarily this year.8217;8217; The new form replaces form 2E from July 31.

Chidambaram said, 8216;8216;Why should people assume Income Tax returns are such trifling things that you should be able to fill it in five minutes8230; One should spend at least half an hour on the statement. I believe the new form can be filled in 20 minutes.8217;8217;

It was widely speculated that the government would heed to the Congress protest, letting the party gain some political mileage. However, the government8217;s refusal to withdraw either the price hike or the new I-T form clearly brings to fore an increasing lack of coordination between the organisational and governmental wings of the Congress.