CUTTACK:Lawyers and Chartered Accountants (CAs) must state the fact correctly before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and the panel must take pages to analyse the fact in proper prospective, said Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra after laying foundation stone for construction of new building of Cuttack bench of ITAT here on Sunday.
He said there is a distinction between tax planning and tax evasion. Sometimes tax planning overlaps the concept, facet and prospect of tax evasion. Therefore, tax practitioner has a duty to tell litigants that this would not come within ambit or suit of tax planning and he might be pulling into the arena of tax evasion, he added.
Stating that 65 percent of decisions in tax cases made by tribunal have been given the approval of High Court or Supreme Court, Misra said it is because the tribunal is the last fact-finding authority.
Presiding the inaugural meeting, Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad said earlier, there were only three ITAT centres in the country. At present, 64 ITAT benches are functioning in 28 cities having strength of two judges in each bench.
“It is a matter of regret that out of 130 crore population of India, only 3.7 crore people are filing IT return. In India, the number of people having annual income of `2.5 lakh to `5 lakh is 1.95 crore, `5 lakh to `10 lakh is 2 lakh, `10 lakh to `50 lakh is 24 lakh and above `50 lakh is 1.72 lakh,” the Minister informed.
Attending the meeting, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said 33 per cent taxes have increased in Odisha. Tax is not a burden. Tax culture should be promoted in the country for its development, he added. Among others, State Health and Law Minister Pratap Jena, ITAT Chairman G D Agrawal, Union Law Secretary Suresh Chandra and Odisha Tax Bar Association Secretary Basudev Panda were present.