A taxing audit

CAG report on direct taxes raises troubling questions

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has rapped the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the income tax department in its latest audit report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. According to the report, the CAG has come to the conclusion that there have been “persistent and pervasive irregularities in respect of corporation tax and income tax assessment cases over the years”. It is important to note that corporation tax and income tax together constitute 33 per cent of the Union government’s revenues, and as such, wide-scale discrepancies in them could not only upset the overall budgetary calculations but