Soon after becoming independent, India faced a massive challenge to widen the tax net. Then finance minister CD Deshmukh narrated a story of a villager remitting Rs 5 to him. Deshmukh wanted to encourage more Indians to pay taxes.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 31, 2023 12:00 IST
CD Deshmukh was the first Indian to be appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (Image: Twitter/@IndiaHistorypic)
By India Today Web Desk: On Wednesday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the last full Budget of the Modi 2.0 government. Expectations are high, like every year. Since this will be the last full Budget before the 2024 general elections, Nirmala Sitharaman may announce income tax relief for salary earners, and people in small businesses. Inflation and a jobs crisis have significant issues in recent times.
Be that as it may, widening the tax net has been a challenge for successive governments in India. Out of 136 crore people in India, just over 8 crore taxpayers, including individual and corporate, were recorded during the fiscal year 2019-20, the government informed Parliament last year. The government said it has taken several steps to cover the remaining population in the tax net.
But this challenge was more significant soon after India became independent. And it’s in this context that then finance minister CD Deshmukh narrated a story of a villager remitting Rs 5 to him. Deshmukh wanted to encourage more Indians to pay taxes.
READ | Union Budget 2023: Majority of Indian households face savings crunch, want relief
Deshmukh was an Indian civil servant and the first Indian to be appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1943 by the British. He served as the Finance Minister in the Union Cabinet.
Deshmukh was one of five members of the Planning Commission when it was constituted in 1950 (it’s now been replaced with the Niti Aayog).
Deshmukh claimed that he had received a letter from a villager who was not required to pay taxes, but wished to help the country.
Deshmukh said the villager had remitted Rs 5 to him and promised to remit a similar sum every year. Deshmukh said with this spirit from ordinary people, the country can confidently face the future, no matter how difficult.
As per Article 112 of the Constitution, the Budget is an annual financial statement, a statement of accounts that provides details of the revenue earned or expected to be earned, and expenditure the government made in the past year or intends to make in the year ahead.
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