[dkhatau]

Want to know your opinion on the move of government to put a cess on income tax to recover oil subsidies. Is it justified for the government to tax common people who do not even have a car ? It is definitely good news for car owners as petrol prices will not be hiked but this not the way to recover subsidies, thats my view.

[tsk1979]

Well common man eats food, right?
that food is produced because tractors till the fields.
It reaches the mandi Via trucks.
So "common man who does not own a car" argument is bogus.
If Fuel prices go up, the "common man who does not even own a cycle" will have to pay the price with expensive food and higher inflation.
As for recovering subsidies via income tax, well I am against that approach for anything.
All cess like education cess, fuel cess blah blah is simply a way by which govt covers up their financial blunders.

[vkochar]

I do not understand all this Oil Cess mess. Reports coming in of a hike of 17 Rs. shocked the entire nation.

The Govt. now puts an Oil Cess which means if someone is paying 100,000 as IT for 1 year, he now pays an additional 3,000 as Oil Cess. Similarly for salaried Individuals.

IMHO - I'd rather pay the Oil Cess in my IT than pay 500 - 600 rs every time I tank full.

[shapra]

Here's an alternative to squeezing honest, tax paying peeps with extra cesses. How about simultaneous co-ordinated IT raids across the nation? We will have a problem of plenty. It boggles the mind to read about our leaders' assets.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by shapra

Here's an alternative to squeezing honest, tax paying peeps with extra cesses. How about simultaneous co-ordinated IT raids across the nation? We will have a problem of plenty. It boggles the mind to read about our leaders' assets.

why would the govt conduct raids against themselves??

[asr245]

Originally Posted by vkochar

I do not understand all this Oil Cess mess. Reports coming in of a hike of 17 Rs. shocked the entire nation.

The Govt. now puts an Oil Cess which means if someone is paying 100,000 as IT for 1 year, he now pays an additional 3,000 as Oil Cess. Similarly for salaried Individuals.

IMHO - I'd rather pay the Oil Cess in my IT than pay 500 - 600 rs every time I tank full.

I am against this. The amount paid through oil cess might be less than what we might pay everytime we fill up but that's not the point. Point is that it's only the salaried/honest tax-payers who will be affected. Why should that happen? Instead of that put additional tax on cars & SUVs/MUVs. The amount of tax should depend on the mileage of the vehicle. The hungrier your vehicle, the more tax you pay (one time).

What's wrong with that?

[shapra]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

why would the govt conduct raids against themselves??

They may not, but honest tax payers must protest. Also, raids can cover a wider swathe of unaccounted wealth than just our "leaders" loot.

If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride,
Pigs would fly and nukes would be safe

[LLL]

Originally Posted by vkochar

I do not understand all this Oil Cess mess. Reports coming in of a hike of 17 Rs. shocked the entire nation.

The Govt. now puts an Oil Cess which means if someone is paying 100,000 as IT for 1 year, he now pays an additional 3,000 as Oil Cess. Similarly for salaried Individuals.

IMHO - I'd rather pay the Oil Cess in my IT than pay 500 - 600 rs every time I tank full.

This is a stupid and unethical move by the govt.

Why should only the honest tax payers pay for fuel? Dont shopkeepers, farmers, lawers, doctors use & drive cars ? They dont pay taxes and consequently no oil cess payment. It will be honest salaried class which will bear the brunt. Obviously, the budgets will squeeze, spending will go down and recessionary forces will become stronger. Its the middle class which buys cars, houses and white goods.

Also govt recovers nearly 20% from fuels via import/customs and excise duties. Why cant the govt just forego that and pass on the recoveries to oil companies?

Also, the customs duty is on the cost of fuel. Govt charges 7.5% customs duty on petrol. When the price was 100$, govt was getting 7.5$. Now the price is 130$ and hence govt is now getting 9.75$. Why cant the govt pass on this additional 2.25$ to the oil companies?

[hrishig]

Totally against it!.

In india only 5- 10% of people are paying income tax , and government is squeezing then left and right and all other non tax payer/ very less tax payer janata will enjoy the benefits , thanks to again to those 5-10% tax payers.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by vkochar

The Govt. now puts an Oil Cess which means if someone is paying 100,000 as IT for 1 year, he now pays an additional 3,000 as Oil Cess. Similarly for salaried Individuals.
.

Problem is when you multiply that figure by 5 or 10 and then suddenly the numbers look ridiculous.

[vkochar]

I agree with all of you on the ' Why should Honest Salaried Individuals ' bear the brunt thing.

BUT tell me one small thing - I would say at least 80 - 90 % of Salaried People in our country drive or relate to driving some sort of a vehicle ( 2 wheeler or 4 wheeler ). If Govt. increases the Petrol Price by 17 Rupees, who do you think will suffer the maximum ?? Also Increasing Diesel prices will further pull up Inflation. So the solution is not increasing Petrol & Diesel prices but do something which helps out the Oil Companies come out of that daily loss.

Putting Oil Cess on IT is not that bad an option. At least the overall impact on one's pocket is much lesser than what it would have been if they Increase prices by 25 - 30 % !!!!

Just my thoughts. I may be wrong in seeing the overall picture but as a self employed honest Tax Payer, I feel it is easier on my pocket this way.

[joslicx]

Yea
Probably best is to go for differential pricing for cars and other vehicles.
I dont understand why there should be subsidy on Diesel cars? A person driving Merc (or any other diesel car) gets so much off from the govt. This is bad policy.
Have petrol & Diesel prices at 0% subsidy for car users. For others (trucks and two wheelers) no increase in prices. Two wheelers are mostly (MOSTLY) used by not so rich people and trucks are mostly used to move cargo so any increase there will add to prices of commodities, making life tough for poor people.
But I dont know how this could be implemented in India. Its very difficult thing to do.

[vnabhi]

I have mixed opinions on this. While it is imperative to increase prices owing to the huge fiscal deficit on account of astronomical oil prices, there is always a danger of angering the citizens, especially when so many elections are round the corner.

It may be a clever move to impose an oil cess, as salary dedutions are apparently less pinching than paying up from the wallet whenever one tanks up his vehicle.

At least diesel car owners also will feel the pinch this time

[suvi]

The Govt charges almost Rs 15 for petrol and Rs 5 for diesel per liter as the excise. they can reduce the same for petrol (to Rs 10 and Rs 3 per liter) and increase the price by Rs 10 and Rs 5 per liter respectively.
The subsidy on LPG should also be decreased in a phased manner.

Most important, any subsidy should come from Govt pocket and not bleed Oil Marketing Companies. By forcing OMC into loss, Govt is showing reduced fiscal deficit and patting itself on the back for meeting fiscal deficit targets.

[spadival]

The salaried class seems the easiest target for the govt to generate funds!! They just have to watch helplessly while the tax is deducted at source. The rest evade tax and do all sorts of jugglary to avoid paying tax.