Govt slaps tax on Jallianwala Trust

The financial institutions reported to have deducted tax at source following expiry of the exemption from paying tax granted to the Jallianwala Bagh Trust in March 1998. It is for the first time since Independence that the Jallianwala Bagh Trust has been asked to pay income tax on its deposits.

S K Mukherjee, secretary of the Trust, when contacted, told The Indian Express that he had brought the matter to the notice of Sonia Gandhi, who is chairman of thetrust. He said the PNB had deducted Rs 40,000 from their fixed deposits and other institutions have also proposed to take similar action. He said the trust had no income from any other source and it is surviving on government grants only.

Mukherjee said the issue had been raised at the trust meeting held under chairmanship of Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on October 30 last. He said joint secretary cultural affairs, who was present at the meeting, had assured to take up the matter with director general of direct taxes but nothing has been done so far.

Trust secretary stated that he had been pursuing the matter with the Centre for the last more than one year to exempt them from income tax. It was unfortunate that a trust constituted under Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act 1951 passed by the parliament was being treated with utter humiliation, he added.