With the objective of raising tax consciousness, an interactive programme “TAX TALKS” was conducted by Income Tax Department, Srinagar at Ibn Khaldun Auditorium, in collaboration with University of Kashmir on the topic- “Fighting against Black Money is a fight for Socio-economic justice”.
The event initiated by Income Tax department was attended by Shakil Ahmad Ganie, IRS, (Dy. Commissioner of Income tax, Srinagar) who was one of the main speakers in the event alongside Shakil Maqbool, ICAS, Addl. Commissioner, State Taxes (J&K). Other officers and officials of the department included Karamvir, Ankit Dhaka, Sumit Kumar & Lokesh Yadav. The event was attended by around 150 students from different scholarly disciplines of the University and was presided by Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir Professor Nilofer Khan. Other notable dignitaries from the academia present during the event were professor Nazir Ahmad Nazir (Dean-School of Business), Dr. Nisar Mir (Registrar, University of Kashmir), professor Imtiyaz ul Haq (HOD, Economics, University of Kashmir).
The purpose of organising this interactive session was to engage the fraternity of academia with the tax administration to highlight and discuss the importance of taxes in the national development. Professor Imtiyaz ul Haq kicked off the proceedings by welcoming the officers of I.T department by presenting them with mementos. Introductory remarks on the menace of Black Money and its impact were made by professor Nazir Ahmad Nazir. Later, Vice Chancellor took the stage to thank the officers of the I.T department for organising the interactive session and urged the department to hold such interactive sessions in future as well so as to create tax awareness among the students. Followed by inaugural address of the VC, Income Tax Officer, Karamvir gave a brief glimpse of the organisational structure of the Income Tax Department in J & K, working of the department along with introducing the speakers from tax department to the audience.
Afterwards, students from different academic branches who had volunteered to participate in the interactive debated on the given topic and highlighted the menace of Black money and its degrading impact on socio economic health of the country and also the role of citizens to curb it.
Subsequently, Shakil Ahmad Ganai highlighted the importance of direct taxes in nations’ progress and elaborately discussed the effects of black money on economic as well as social well-being of the country and how as responsible citizens of the country we can play our role in curbing this menace by staying vigilant and not indulging in such malpractices. He further stressed upon the measures taken by the government and legislative framework in place to curb this menace. He also encouraged the students to broaden and refine their outlook and be aware about the importance of taxation and emphasized that it is the educated youth who will have to steer the economy of the country towards progress and inclusivity through their roles as financial experts, taxpayers and overall as informed citizens of the country. He also sensitized the faculty members and other attendees to pay their taxes honestly and refrain from making fraudulent deduction claims while filing their ITRs, which is a very prevalent practice in the valley as noticed by the department.
Shakil Maqbool, an officer of Indian Civil Accounts Service , touched upon significance of indirect taxation which contributes a significant portion in government’s kitty and also emphasised on the behavioural aspect of taxation in order to raise tax consciousness.
Towards the end of event, in order to motivate and boost the morale of the participants and to acknowledge efforts put by them, as a token of appreciation, certificates and prizes were distributed among them who enthusiastically made the event insightful and fruitful while presenting their perspective and know how on the given topic.
As a concluding remark, professor Imtiyaz ul Haq conveyed thanks to the officers from the Income tax Department for sparing their valuable time to interact with the students and sharing their valuable insights about taxation. The participants as well as audience were also appreciated for enthusiastic response shown by them by attending the event in large numbers. The efforts of the organizing committee were also acknowledged whose sincere and dedicated efforts turned this event into a grand success.
