The Tax Return of the humble Indian politician

I have copied here, an article from The Statesman, Web edition. This is rather interesting. It does appear that our politicians have little or no wealth, as they don't seem to pay much taxes. But that does not prevent them from ostentatious display. Read on.

A tale of stellar omissions

Vijay Thakur
NEW DELHI, April 26: Is buying property in the national capital region way beyond your reach? Are taxes eating into your hard-earned income? Such “aam aadmi'” concerns do not bother candidates for the Lok Sabha elections if the affidavits submitted by them to their returning officers while filing nomination papers are anything to go by.
Take the case of Mr Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader projected as the party's prime minister in waiting. He can let you into the secret of owning property in the south Delhi area for as little as Rs 4.40 per square yard or a mere 49 paise per square foot.
For those with tax blues, it might be best to seek some advice from Mr LK Advani, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. In his affidavit, he has not mentioned paying income tax, wealth tax and property tax in 2008-09. All this when he was the leader of the Opposition, drawing a fixed salary, and owns movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 3 crore (not including his spouse's assets of over Rs 50 lakh). The RJD supremo, Mr Lalu Prasad, whose family owns 36 immovable properties, does not fall in the purview of wealth and property tax, according to his declaration. However, Mr Prasad and his wife, Mrs Rabri Devi, owe the income tax department an amount of Rs 26 lakh, which they contest.
Mr Rahul Gandhi has informed the Election Commission that he owns a 4.692 acre farmhouse in Mehrauli which is worth Rs 9,86,244 as on March 31, 2008. This means his 22,700 square yards of land costs only Rs 9.86 lakh. At this value, the price per square yard of his farmhouse would be approximately Rs 4.40 or 49 paise per square foot. However, if property dealers of Mehrauli area are to be believed, Rs 10 lakh would not fetch even a 25 square-yard plot in any inhabited colony of Mehrauli which has water, power and other civic amenities.
Mr Gandhi's affidavit further contradicts his own claim. He has submitted that he is paying property tax of Rs 78,000 per annum on the farmhouse whose value is only Rs 9.86 lakhs. Similar is the case of the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who declared that the approximately 15.75 bigha plot of agricultural land she owns in Sultanpur village and Dera Mandi, is worth a mere Rs 2.19 lakh as on March 31, 2008, that is Rs 14,000 per bigha. Even barren land in remote areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh or Punjab is not available at this price.
Mrs Gandhi has also got her hands on some inexpensive jewellery. She claims to have 2,518 grams of jewellery valued at Rs 11,08,100, or Rs 439 per gram. Mrs. Gandhi also owns 88 kg of silverware valued at about Rs 18 lakh. Mr Advani has Rs 67.56 lakhs in banks and financial and non-banking institutions, another Rs 1.6 lakh of jewellery, and house and apartments worth Rs 2.35 crore. Yet his assets declaration states that he has paid "NIL" income tax, wealth tax, or property tax for the assessment year 2008-09. "If a candidate has written "NIL" in these columns, it means he has not paid any Income tax, property tax and wealth tax," said the returning officer of Gandhi Nagar. "We are not here to check the veracity of it. It is in the public domain, if anybody has any problem he is free to approach the appropriate authorities," the returning officer said.
Even income tax experts find it difficult to digest that a person who has assets of over Rs 3 crore and is earning a substantial salary as leader of the Opposition, has not contributed anything towards income tax, wealth tax or property tax.
"Before commenting on it, we need to see what he has submitted in his I-T returns. One can certainly make lots of tax saving investments, donations, or show expenditure. Without seeing his returns details, we can comment little on it," said Mr Rajesh Kumar, director of finance in a public limited company.
The RJD chief, Mr Lalu Prasad's declaration is similar to Mr Advani's. His family, including his wife, sons and daughters, own more than 36 residential, commercial or agricultural plots. Yet they have not paid any income tax, wealth tax or property tax for the assessment year 2008-09, the affidavit submitted by Mr Prasad reveals. He, however, owes the I-T department Rs 16.26 lakh while Mrs Rabri Devi owes Rs 9.79 lakh.
The story is no different for leaders of other political parties with only a few abiding by the letter and spirit of the Election Commission's model code. The EC might have made the disclosure of assets mandatory for all contesting candidates, but the real picture is not clear as candidates seem to be taking advantage of "technical/legal loopholes and jargons" to hide the actual worth of their assets.
The EC, however, washes its hands of the declarations made by the candidates. "Our job ends after we receive the affidavits from the candidates," said a senior official of the Commission. "The candidate has to declare the assets to the returning officer and we put it in the public domain. If anybody has any objection they can approach the returning officer concerned and file a complaint to the appropriate authorities," said the official.
The EC does not evaluate the declared assets, but since it is in the public domain, the concerned government department may take the initiative to check if the candidates are indulging in tax evasion and take punitive action, the official said.