New Delhi, August 17
Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh today said that the government was committed to initiate reforms in both direct and indirect taxes, taking away the discretionary powers of the bureaucracy.
“While simplification of direct taxes help the salaried employees and the middle classes, the reforms in indirect taxes would help the business class. Taking away the discretionary powers was one way of bringing a transparent regime,” he said at a day-long political conference of the Delhi unit of the BJP here.
Stating that there had been demand from the BJP to help the salaried and business class people, the Finance Minister said tax reforms would go a long way in helping these deserving sections.
The Finance Minister said the wheels of the economy would get going only when all sections were happy whether it were farmers, labourers or businessmen.
“The poor sections needed to be helped with foodgrain while the purchasing power of the salaried classes had to be strengthened for building a strong economy. The government had come out with tax saving instruments like the RBI bonds to help the salaried class,” he said.
Praising his predecessor Yashwant Sinha for leaving behind a strong economy, he said Mr Sinha had a successful tenure in the Finance Ministry.
About the BJP’s demand for reviving the leave travel concession for the government employees, he said he could not make any immediate announcement on the issue. The government would hold discussions with the state governments on the issue. The Ministry of Tourism had made a similar demand, he added.
This is the second time within a fortnight that the Finance Minister made his intention clear on tax sops and reforms within the party fora.
It may be recalled that during the National Council meeting of the BJP here on August 3, he had hinted at more sops to the salaried class.
Hinting at more tax reforms and exemptions, he had stated that the objective of the government was to make the tax system people-friendly but at the same time ensuring high rate of growth of the economy.
