Fairness in the Indian Tax System

S. A. MOHAN

Abstract

Fairness is the sine qua non of any administrative or judicial process. Interviews of retired tax officials, tax practitioners, and retired tax adjudicators reveal that fairness is not guaranteed to taxpayers in India during tax assessment and tax adjudication at the first level of appeal. Instead, there appear to be challenges to substantive justice in both cases and to procedural justice in the context of tax assessments. Case law substantiates the existence of unfairness in tax assessments, with judges in some cases making critical remarks about the unfair behaviour of tax officials. But reforms to address such unfairness are long overdue.

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Supporting Taxation’s extended ‘Purpose’ to encompass the Objective of Socially Engineering Human Behaviours

LIDIA XYNAS AND ALEXANDER XYNAS

Abstract

Taxation should not only be viewed as a legislative tool which provides revenues for policymakers to be able to then deliver social goods and services such as roads, health care, education and military protections. The fiscal raising aspect of taxation is also supplemented by another objective or purpose – the social engineering of human behaviours. This extended purpose of taxation can be supported by reference to three Pillars: Ethics, Law and Economics as bought together in this Article. This three Pillar approach can provide the basis for taxpayer confidence and acceptance of a policymaker’s approach to extending purpose of taxation to encompass objectives of socially engineering human behaviours. This is especially important where the positives of such a policy approach outweigh the harms associated with certain defined human behaviours, for the individual and for broader society.

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INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE IN PRO BONO TAX CLINICS: A CASE STUDY APPROACH

ANN KAYIS-KUMAR, GORDON MACKENZIE AND MICHAEL WALPOLE

Abstract

As one of the initial universities in the Federal Government’s National Tax Clinic Pilot Program, the University of New South Wales (‘UNSW’) Tax Clinic provides free, independent and confidential tax advice and support to financially vulnerable individuals and small businesses across New South Wales (‘NSW’).

One of the greatest challenges in establishing a free tax clinic is in ensuring that only those who are genuinely in need have access to the service. Further, tax law is a unique area of law whereby access to the transfer system (that is, welfare benefits) is often predicated on the requirement for individuals to be up-to-date with their tax affairs. This itself presents an additional barrier in access to justice.

So, by adopting an interprofessional collaborative approach, UNSW Tax Clinic offers vulnerable taxpayers – who meet criteria that are both transparent and nuanced – the ability to obtain free tax advice and support.

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