FM Jaitley promises simplified ITR forms, says 'yeh sooj-booj ki sarkar hai'

The Finance Minister, in a reply to the Lok Sabha on April 30 said that Income Tax Return (ITR) forms will be simplified and new forms will be issued soon. However, he did not clarify whether the taxpayers will be asked to declare their foreign trips or not. FM Jaitley also took a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha today, while defending the Finance Bill 2015. “Yeh sooj-booj ki sarkar hai, suit-boot ki nahin,” said Jaitley, describing his government as one driven by reason and common sense. Last week, Rahul Gandhi had coined the phrase “suit-boot ki sarkar” to accuse the government of sacrificing the interests of the poor to favour crony corporates. Taking another jive at Gandhi, Jaitley said “Perhaps the PM travels abroad, but at least we know where he is.” Jaitley was referring to the attempts made by the Congress to avoid commenting on where exactly Rahul Gandhi spent his sabbatical. Meanwhile, setting at rest the controversy with regard to regulation of government bonds for the time being, Arun Jaitley today dropped from the Finance Bill 2015 the proposal to set up a separate Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA), outside of the RBI’s ambit. The minister said however that the government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank, will prepare a roadmap to pursue a separate debt management agency later in line with the global practice. “Since the RBI has been handling public debt management, the government in consultation with the RBI will prepare a detailed roadmap separating the debt management function and the market infrastructure from the RBI and having a unified financial market,” Jaitley said. He made these remarks while initiating the debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_2216582” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Arun Jaitley.[/caption] The Budget 2015-16 proposal to set up PDMA and shift the regulation of government bonds from RBI to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) generated lot of controversy, with the central bank raising concerns and questioning the timing of the move. “It is…being decided to delete the PDMA provisions from the Finance Bill for this financial year,” Jaitley said. “This government is committed to unifying the financial market both by making the government securities part of this market as well as creating a proper bond currency derivate market,” he added. “There are six different provisions which we are omitting,” Jaitley said while referring to the provisions in the Finance Bill for PDMA and regulation of government bonds. Eventually, the government in consultation with the RBI will work out a scheme for a separate debt management agency in line with the global practice. The continuation of RBI as a debt manager of the government limits the liquidity and fragments the functioning of bond market, Jaitley said. The existing structure also creates a conflict of interest as the RBI has to perform the twin role of controlling inflation and keeping the cost of government borrowing low. Jaitley added that it also perpetuates the conflict of interest with the RBI from being a regulator of Government securities and simultaneously being both a trader in government securities. With inputs from PTI