Pitiable state of the Inland revenue service
As a taxpayer, I read with more than a passing interest the comments on our taxmen by the Deputy Minister of Finance no less. I offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the Gods not because the good Minister’s wife has been harassed but because at least in this way the woes of the harassed taxpaying public have caught the attention of the powers that be and at least there will be some hope of relief to the taxpayers who have been "milked" not only by the state but also by corrupt officials. I hope the Deputy Minister will take note that this key department which functions virtually under his nose has been rapidly going downhill in recent times.
The top management of this important revenue earning department does not seem to be in the least concerned about falling standards, blatant corruption and obvious lack of technical competence of the staff.
Letters addressed to revenue officials from the top to the bottom are not answered. Vital letters disappear from files as part of the baiting operation of taxpayers. Corrupt assessors use there subordinates — tax officiers and peons as go — betweens in this game of deception. No doubt the tax department will show additional revenue collected from tax evaders but the evaders are also happy people because part of what should go to the state will remain with them provided they pay the assessor’s "fees". Do we have to go further to explain the shortfall in Revenue.
The genial Commissioner-General who pontificates on Double Taxation on TV should exercise a little more care and diligence.
Without taking undue space in your newspaper I wish to list out the travails of the taxpayer.
1. Reminders and notices threatening prosecution and/or penalties are issued despite tax returns being filed. In most cases the taxpayer has acknowledgement cards or the returns have been sent by registered post.
2. Tax payments are called for even where the taxes have been paid. This is because the records are not systematically updated.
3. A claim for refund of tax results in an order for a receipts and payments statement. Multiple queries are raised, thus providing a fertile ground for assessors fishing for commissions. Refunds will come speedily if the assessor is looked after for his trouble since this is not taken into account for his incentive allowance.
4. Even in the case of big companies which have been subject to audit reports, details of debtors and creditors, confirmation of debtors and creditors are called for without any reason. This is a typical case of harassment of taxpayers who comply.
5. If taxpayers avail themselves of the in-house revenue service expertise offered by assessors who will prepare your books of accounts, you will have no problem about getting your returns accepted.
Taxpayers have suffered ugly experiences of telephone calls by revenue officials who offer assistance if they dismiss their consultants.
6. Contradictory rulings are given by officials in different offices. Even junior officers do not think twice about upsetting rulings of the Commissioner General if the ruling has been given by an officer who has retired. It is a different story if they are looked after.
7. The Investigation Branch is a den of corruption and intrigue. No doubt there is additional tax collected but this is by mutual agreement with the evaders. The evader is taxed on part of what he should really pay on payment of a percentage of the "tax saved" to the assessor. This practice is there in other units as well.
Will the Deputy Minister take steps to appoint a Committee of Inquiry before this becomes worse. Please look at the assets and the cars imported by tax officials. These speak for themselves.
Anton P. Silva
Separating wheat from chaff
Writing about 50 years ago, the renowned humourist Stephen Leacock began a hilarious short story with this memorable one-liner: Guido the Gimlet of Ghent jumped on his horse, and rode off at once in all directions. I was reminded of this when reading the reams of lead stories, leaders and commentaries in our English Sunday papers on 20 February, They were full of speculative conjecture and abstract analysis about peace talks, devolution, constitutional reform, the Executive Presidency, timing of elections etc, etc.
I doubt whether President Chandrika ever read Leacock, but she has certainly got the cognoscenti of our political establishment, the independent print media and the habitues of Colombo’s diplomatic and high society cocktails/dinner party circuit doing as Guido did: i.e.. jumping on their mental horses (for the well-heeled) or bicycles (for those less so), and riding off in all directions at the same time.
The President has long since well understood and keenly practiced the first precept of dictatorial governance: keep the opposition and critics diverted with irrelevant trivia, and prevent them concentrating their focus on the core issues. These are two-fold: the poor - quality of her governance and its damage to the country’s well-being, and how best to replace it with good governance.
All other issues are but the spin being imparted to the roulette wheel of our politics by Madame Croupier: giving a little to this gambler, cutting that one down a bit, and so on. All this presented to our own little world and the bigger one outside in the verbiage of seeming statespersonship which, when closely scrutinised, turns out to be no more than cynical insincere rhetoric, and (in a felicitous phrase coined by the leader writer of The Sunday Leader) "bold, habitual and fluent" lies,
The President has all along worked to a single-point agenda: win the Executive Presidency (which she did on the basis of the most cynically fraudulent electoral manifesto ever presented here or elsewhere), entrench its inherent power (through undermining all institutions and processes of efficient governance - the bureaucracy, the police, the judiciary, etc., etc.) and perpetuate it through unbridled resort to violence and electoral fraud by the state’s agencies and personnel under her authority, whenever electoral renewal of power becomes un-avoidable.
Our national problem is that, whilst the President has grasped the essential of dictatorship in perpetuity, the Opposition Leader has signally failed to grasp the first essential of politics in a corrupt, ill-governed, unstable 3rd world country: i.e. win power somehow, for otherwise, a visionary pact with the people is hooey.
Adrian Wijegooneratne,
Colombo 10.
Brave President reverses Sports Minister
Many of us have been disappointed that our President has not done more to curb corruption. To those of us who have felt like that, her latest action in issuing a directive to the Minister of Sports to defer elections to the Board of Cricket Control until alleged financial irregularities are investigated is a breath of fresh air. All of us know who would have been elected if elections under the present rules had been permitted. This would have been a great tragedy for the country which has, under the squeaky-clean administration of the Interim Board, seen a resurgence in our cricket performance, and a great restoration of our international reputation.
It is quite obvious to all those who are unbiased or have been impervious to the malefic influence of largesse, that the Interim Board has done a magnificent job. They have chosen teams on the basis of merit, not reputation, and a captain who has inspired respect and affection from his team mates. There are no passengers in the team or men who due to portliness or lack of fitness have to be hidden. The team is clearly happy which is a far cry from what prevailed during our decline.
All of us cricket lovers should be concerned about the corruption and irregularities that characterised the previous board. Never again should such men be allowed to hold positions of influence on the cricket scene. Under the present rules of election they will inevitably establish themselves in power again if given the chance. When the full story of their depredations is revealed there will be public revulsion; but that will not suffice to prevail over the deficiencies of the system.
It needed a leader of courage to reverse the decision of the Minister of Sports who was kindly disposed towards the previous regime. Let us hope and pray that our President will continue to act admirably not only in the field of cricket but in other areas that need her courageous attention.
D. B. de Silva,
Nawala.
Sardine packed buses
I write this with the anticipation that you may be able to offer your good services to the residents of Maharagama by introducing a CTB bus service from Maharagama junction to Katuwawala junction plying along the Cancer Hospital, or a bus from Maharagama junction plying along Daham Mawathe. Earlier there was a bus service plying along Daham Mawathe and was later stopped due to the pressure of the private bus service people who ply along the Cancer Hospital road, as they wanted that crowd too to flock into their buses, although these are two different routes.
There are more than 25000 people travelling up and down these two roads. At present there are private vans plying along the Cancer Hospital from Maharagama to Katuwawala junction. Those who reside at Daham Mawatha and further up too travel in these vans. They are low roof vans which are packed like sardine inside the vans and hanging on the foot board, etc. Once a van leaves its destination, the next van arrives after a considerable lapse of time later. Owing to this reason when the next van arrives the halting place is over crowded. As there is no queue, the commuters pull and push each other and try to get in. A sick or a disabled person, a pregnant woman or a mother carrying a child will not be able to get into the van, even if that person waits for two three buses. These van owners do not allow new owners joining this service due to the reason that they want to earn more by keeping the passengers for themselves.
Hon. Minister, kindly look into this matter and try to give relief to these people as people who return home after work having travelled in other buses have no more strength to bear with the sardine packing in these vans.
Manjari Peiris,
Maharagama.