Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill introduced in LS

New Delhi, May 22 (UNI) Finance Minister P Chidambaram today moved The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2006 in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to amend a host of taxation laws, including the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the Customs Act, 1962.

The Amendment Bill also seeks to amend The Customs Tariff Act, 1975, and the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Introducing the Amendment Bill, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, Mr Chidambaram said most of the provisions in the various Acts were ''procedural amendments'' aimed at removing the drafting lacunae.

''The amendments are quiet self-explanatory and should be passed'' by the Rajya Sabha without much of a debate, he said, pointing out that the Amendment Bill had already been passed by the Lok Sabha.

Initiating the debate on the Bill, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj (BJP) said most of the amnedments were ''half-hearted'' measures which would not bring any relief to the people.

He also slammed the government for doing little to curb the parallel economy. ''Taxation laws are not only complicated but these also create a feeling of awe among income tax payees for IT officials,'' he said, and demanded simplification of taxation laws.

Mr Santosh Bagrodia (Cong) said provisions in the IT Act for widening of the tax base and plugging leakages in revenues were laudable, but these should also be made effective.

He said the standard practice is to scare the tax-payers while tax assessment is done in a very arbitrary manner.

''Action should be taken against the officials who are blatantly increasing the tax assessment without any reason or rhyme,'' he said.

Mr Bagrodia also demanded a hike in the exemption limit of contributions to charitable institutions from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.

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