Spilling the beans on corruption in the Commercial Tax department of Karnataka
Most people wish us all the luck for making an effort but believe there is no hope!
That was the refrain I heard once more when I met Sukhdev (name changed), who mentioned how common corruption was in the obtaining of income tax refunds. Once Sukhdev overcame his initial despondency and doubts, he was very forthcoming about the entire process of how refunds are made and where corruption takes place.
In his determination to cleanse the system, Sukhdev brought along his Chartered Accountant (name changed) for the meeting, and spilled the beans on how rampant corruption is in the Commercial Tax department of Karnataka.
At ipaidabribe.com, we embarked upon documenting the way in which corruption takes place in this department. We spoke to a cross-section of people who transact with the department. In order to present a balanced view, we also spoke to sources within the department, to ascertain whether these views were indeed not exaggerated or untrue.
Watch out for our series of posts on corruption in the Commercial Tax department.
Some of the aspects we will be covering are:
1.Registration of a tax paying establishment 2.Filing of monthly returns 3.Filing of revised returns 4.Obtaining of Refunds 5.Audit 6.Revision and Appeals, including Suo Moto revision/Appeal 7.Enforcement related activities 8.Vigilance related activitiesHere is a sample of a bribe story reported by a citizen who transacted with the department.
Ever since ipaidabribe.com went live on August 15 2010, we have been deluged with comments, mostly appreciative of what we are doing. However, the question one most frequently hears is what is next. People ask us, “What happens after you report your stories? Can you help us change anything?
Box 1| Art for sale Reported: April 9, 2011 - 16:32 | City: Bangalore | Amount paid: Rs. 1000/- “Every ticketed performance needs to submit ticket and seating details to the CTO, to get approvals, pay advance tax and get tickets franked. We went three times to ********** the CT Officer, a lady, to submit our tickets. She was perpetually out for lunch. Stressed, harassed, we finally got the letter signed, and submitted our tickets for franking otherwise the performance will not be allowed to take place. Another lady at the dept gestured and said she will take Rs.500 to put the seal on the tickets. We were shocked. It is her job! Why should we pay ? But she refused to listen, so we gave the money and then she gave us the rubber stamp and said she does not have the time to put the seal, so we sat and franked 1000 tickets ourselves ! Post performance, we submitted the ticket sales details, and asked for the refund and then, had to pay a Bribe again ( Rs.500 ) to get the refund cheque signed by the officer the day we went. It is sickening to see both men and women in government service with no conscience, values or respect for the work they do. We were told the money will be shared all the way up the line so there is no one we can complain to. Bharath Mata ki jai is meaningless till this problem and these people are eliminated from our lives.” |