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CA Umesh Sharma

CA Umesh SharmaArjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, Aamir Khan’s recently released movie, PK, is in Limelight. Tell me, if this character ‘PK’ participates in a T.V. talk show on the topic of Taxation, what fun it will create? In this way we can spread awareness of taxation among people for following tax laws.

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, in the movie, Aamir Khan has played the role of an alien coming from another ‘Gola‘ (planet). After coming to India, he portrays his opinions on fearfulness, superstitions and castism in an amusing manner. So now let’s correlate various scenes from the movie with income tax, sales tax and other taxes.

Arjuna: Krishna, when “PK” landed on earth, his credit card and PAN card were stolen. So, he tries to understand Indian tax laws. So what could be his opinion on tax laws?

Krishna: Arjuna, “PK” enquires about PAN card from various people and he gets amazed after realising the actual situation. He is surprised to know that only 3.45 crore people pay income tax from the population of 125 crores and most of the people have taken PAN for fun and many people use fake PAN. After knowing about this PK says, “Humare Gole (planet) pe koi juth nahi bolta, aur hum confusiya gaye hai, yaha ka tax system dekh ke. Yaha kaun tax bhar raha hai aur kon nahi ye samaj nahi aata, thappa kaha hai tax bhar ne walo ka, kya pata.” Further he expresses his opinion on the feelings of Indian citizens on fear, unawareness, tax evasion etc. in questionable and playful manner. When he goes to police station to lodge a complaint of his stolen PAN card, he is enquired about his Income Tax Return, bank account and books of accounts etc. He didn’t understand anything and after overcoming his problem he gets his PAN card back.

Arjuna: Krishna, How does “PK” understand the color of money?

Krishna: Arjuna, when “PK” goes to purchase carrot and battery for his tape recorder the shopkeeper tells him in black it is for Rs. 200 and in white it is for Rs. 225. “PK” gets surprised and doesn’t understand the difference of black and white. Then the shopkeeper explains to him that there are two types of money i.e. Black money and White money. If the purchaser wants a bill of Rs. 225 for his purchase then the seller has to pay sales tax & income tax and then it becomes white money. If the purchase is for Rs. 200 then bill will not be issued and shopkeeper will evade tax and hence it is black money. That means black money is tax evaded money. In India there is huge portion of black money. “PK” by seeing this black money says “Wrong numberva pe call lagat rahe hum sab, agar tax nahi bharoge toh lul ho jayegi Desh ki arthik halat.”

Arjuna: Great Krishna, What are some funny things of income tax?

Krishna: Arjuna, when PK goes in the temple of Income Tax (Income Tax Office) and understands provisions, he gets astonished after understanding how the following provisions are:

1. Taxpayers who file income tax returns regularly, to them the department sends scrutiny notices, but who do not file returns, what happens to them? Hence, PK thinks, “Yaha to bolte kuch hai aur matlab kuch aur nikalta hai, jo tax bhar raha hai wohi mar raha hai.”

2. Income tax department charges 12% p.a. rate of interest to the tax payers , but in case of refund gives only an interest @ 6% p.a. PK thinks,”Dusro se lete ho jaada aur dete ho kam, e kaisa hisab hua bhaiya?”

3. If a person who deducts TDS has not paid the same or filed the wrong information then the person whose TDS is deducted will not get the credit of it. PK’s thoughts on this,”karni kisi aur ki aur bharni kisi aur ki.”

4. In case of property transaction if property is sold for less than stamp duty value then the seller has to pay income tax on the difference. However the actual sales value is much more than the stamp duty value. And the difference is taken in cash as black money. After seeing these cash transactions PK thinks that, “Cash me aish karte hai saare.”

Looking at these contrasting situations he says “Hamare gole par bahut hi simple tax system hai. Hum manager ke bharose nahi rehte, khud hi tax return bhar dete hai. Notice photice ka jhanjat hi nahi hai humare yaha. Phir bhi iss gole (Desh) main kar data kar bharta hai aur hasta hai yah badi acchi baat hai hum salam karta hu kar data ko. Apni duty nibhane me hi beauty hai bhaiya” Pay tax and relax.

Arjuna: Kya baat hai Krishna, What are the contradictions in case of VAT from the point of view of “PK”?

Krishna: Arjuna, when PK purchases goods, he understands the difference between with bill and without bill. So he comes to notice following contradictions in VAT:

1. While paying tax if tax payer purchases from Maharashtra then he gets VAT set off. However, if from whom he purchases, has not paid tax or does not file return then the purchaser will not get set off. Even he has to pay interest and penalty on it. Looking at this “PK” says “Yaha chor uchako chod samajdaro ko saja ho rahi hai bhaiya.”

2. Tax payer appeals for his justice but he needs to pay part payment for the appeal to the government i.e. to get justice he needs to spend first. “PK” says “Insaaf pane k liye paisa kharch karna padta hai iha. Hala ki yah muft milna chahiye varna garibo ko toh kabhi insaaf nahi milega”

Arjuna:PK”s opinion is right Krishna, now tell me views of “PK” on some contradictions in Service Tax?

Krishna: Arjuna, when “PK” goes to an air conditioned hotel, looking at service tax rate 12.36% his hunger vanishes and when he goes to a non-air conditioned hotel service tax was not levied in the bill amount. He says “Arey thandi hawa khane pe bhi is gole pe (Bharat Desh) tax lag raha hai bhaiyya, humare yaha toh muft mai milti hai thandi hawa!” Then he understood the controversies related to interest charged in service tax. The amount of interest which is being charged on service tax has risen to a great extent. If the tax payer delays the payment of service tax by one year then rate of interest is charged at 30% p.a. on the amount of service tax to be paid. Seeing this “PK” says “Tum toh dan dan pheke ja rahe ho, uchalne ki bhi limit hoti hai.”

Upon Seeing the controversies related to various taxes such as Excise, Customs, LBT, Entertainment tax, RTO tax, Profession Tax, etc. PK fainted. When he woke up he said, “Yeh sach hai bhaiyya ki zindagi mai do chije picha nahi chodti ek hai maut aur dusra hai tax. Sare Bramand mai jitney gole (planets) hai, usse jyaada toh tax dikh rehe hai iha. Ab toh lagat hai ki aage direct tax code aur Goods and Service tax aane k baad hi kuch phursat hogi. Nahi toh aasman se nikle aur khajur pe atke ki halat ho jayegi sabki.”

Arjuna: Krishna, What should tax payer learn from “PK”s point of view?

Krishna: Arjuna, “PK” is a character who thinks in a simple and pleasant way. He does not want any complications even if the subject is related to tax laws. It means to follow tax laws as they are. However as India is an Agrarian country most of the people depend on agriculture and agricultural income is tax free. Therefore, the tax structure is complicated. Government should not make these laws complicated. “PK” se ham aane wale sal main tension free rahna sikhe. From this story one should learn that,”Bhaiya sab baat ki ek baat “Kar” bhala to ho bhala. “PK” se ham bahut kuch sikhe”.

Wish you all a very happy new year!

Dear, taxguru and karniti lover please give your views on above article.

Author Bio

1. Central Council Member of ICAI. 2. Vice-Chairman of WIRC of ICAI for the period 2015-2021. 3. Youngest Chairman of Aurangabad Branch of WIRC of ICAI in 2002. 4. Author of Popular Tax articles series based on Krishna and Arjuna conversation i.e “KARNEETI” published in Lokmat on every View Full Profile

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0 Comments

  1. Nikhil Pathak says:

    Excellent Sir.!! Excellent… you won my heart.. the way you Explained Us,
    Thanks A Lot.!!

    why didn’t we get teachers like you from our Childhood..

  2. PRAVEEN SINGH says:

    Pk above was too good but india is a unique country in this world and one thing we should know is that this is not a fault of peoples of india because laws of india force people to find new ways to make default…and last i will conclude all above said our laws just focuses on how to force indian people to become criminal

  3. DIVYA says:

    A person went to Singapore after her marriage on Resident Visa. After some time she got Job there and she changes her Visa as Work Visa. After 4 years working there She with her Husband got P.R Status of Singapore country, She will be returning to India with her Husband. In India She will work for the Same Singapore Company in which she is working now in India as Work at Home Status., since the said Singapore company does not have any Branch In INDIA.

    My question is :

    What will be her NRI Status if she is residing in India for more than 182 Days in a financial Year.

    If she travel Abroad during the Period for less than 180 days in a financial year then also what will be the NRI Status. Will she be treated as Resident or NRI as per Income Tax law.

    Will she be charged as per Indian Income Tax law even if she is working for a foreign Company in India and paid in Singapore Currency. and what will be the changes as per Indian Income Tax Law if she is paid in Indian Bank in Indian Currency.

  4. rajiv mangrulkar says:

    lack of awreness and control on commodities procurement and disposal- market forces of demand and supply, margins in trading of goods, general indian tendency to do business on loan and suppliers credit periods, ill-advices of irs and ca pundits for tax evasion to get bulk easy fee/bribes from their clients, collisions in tax depts’ & consultants and practicing ca etc – are all missing scenes to P K.

  5. CS Isha Sharma says:

    very nice article sir..vary simple and easy language so that a lay man can also understand the complicated concept of Indian Tax system.Looking forward to your new article.wish u nd ur family a very Happy New year

  6. SOM RAJAN says:

    Very very good humour. It is a reality that Tax payers get no benefits any where. In fact they are overcharged every where being a tax payer. Govt. do not encourage them, but try to extract taxes from them.Very strange. People want to purchase every thing without Bill/tax by cheating the Govt. On the other hand, Govt. snatches money from tax payers and enjoy in the name of ‘welfare activities’ to poor to secure vote bank.
    Why no people come forward to pay all Govt. dues voluntarily? Obviously, majority of the people want to evade tax. If everybody do so and govt. encourages it, India will leave US far behind.

  7. Hiraman Aher says:

    This is the reality…again coming through PK…we need to resolve and also wishing to team Modi to help in this matter…

    thanks for great information…

  8. motichand gupta says:

    Hi Umesh,

    you explained in a hilarious way of our complicated tax system.

    Hope, with the introduction of DTC & GST, we will see positive improvement.

    Nice analysis.
    Thanks.

  9. RAMESH GUDDETI says:

    This is real running story about taxpayers and our tax systems even though some one says time pass this article is having a depth and unavoidable circumstances about our DTC and we all welcome a single tax system for our beautiful country. Umesh sharma sir keep it up Thank q

  10. R S SHAH says:

    lovely comments from Mr. Sharma, on P K Style of analysis of tax system. good humour but we also need solutions in this GOLA ( Indian part of this Gola).

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