1. I deem it a great privilege to be amongst you all at the valedictory function of this National Convention which provides an opportunity to all concerned to take stock of the deliberations over the perpetual subject of professional opportunities and social obligations of tax professionals.
    

2. Taxing power is an important attribute of any sovereign State, for meeting with the governmental expenses required to be incurred for good administration and the protection and welfare of the State and its people. The balancing of public and private interests in the field of taxation is a constant process with an aim to prevent oppressive taxes and harness adequate resources for all governmental functions. By virtue of their complexity arising due to frequently necessary changes made to answer the needs of the exchequer, necessity for professional aid arises to a common man for discharging tax obligations and efficiently arranging the tax affairs. The sweep of the taxing statutes is so wide that many fields of specialization for the professionals have developed, with the accountants and secretaries as common features. Like the professions of medicine and law, tax consultation has flowered into an equally important profession where the tax professional is expected to act independently, to correctly work out the tax liabilities of the client, and ensure that they are duly discharged to avoid hardships arising due to defaults.
    

3. Today’s tax professional is equipped with advanced technology for an accurate and effective handling of the tax cases. Much time and energy is saved by the advanced data storage and retrieval systems and the accounting softwares that have added to human efficiency.
    

4. Tax consulting activity would mean rendering high quality assistance by independent tax consultants to citizens and legal persons when they assess and pay taxes under the taxing statutes. Rendering high quality assistance by independent tax professionals involves:

1. gathering full and correct information from the clients,

2. rendering assistance in keeping books and records,

3. preparing reports,

4. drawing up papers for the purpose of taxation, e.g. preparing returns.

5. The basic principles regulating tax consulting activity are, ethical and professional norms of a tax consultant and, bearing responsibility, where these norms are violated. These norms refer to professionalism, independence, honesty, objectiveness, and compliance with the tax laws. It will be for the professional bodies to which they belong, to enforce the ethical and professional norms and ensure, by way of checks on enrolment and disciplinary action, that unscrupulous elements do not, enter or remain in the noble profession.
    

6. Filing a tax return is a tax-payer’s entry point into the tax system. For effectiveness of self-assessment and voluntary compliance, it is in the best interest of both, the tax-payer and the Revenue, to ensure that the filing process runs smoothly. When a tax-payer provides requisite information to the tax professional for preparing the returns, there should be no fear that the confidential tax information will be used or disclosed inappropriately.
    

7. One of the most serious problems facing tax-payers is that of “tax gap”, because the average compliant tax-payer pays extra tax each year to subsidize non-compliance by others. Failure to collect revenue from the non-compliant tax-payers can be a source of additional burden that would be imposed on the law abiding tax-payers. There is, therefore, need to step-up enforcement and compliance activity without violating tax-payer’s rights; and budget procedures and decisions should be attuned to reduce the “tax gap”, by explicitly aiming to maximize compliance with the taxing laws, especially voluntary compliance, with due regard for protecting tax payer’s rights and minimizing tax-payer’s burden. Tax professionals can play a very significant role in this area.
    

8. A large component of the “tax gap” is attributable to under-reporting by self-employed tax-payers. There should be a proper research to assess the characteristics and needs of small business owners and self-employed tax payers and to develop an integrated strategic plan to enhance the scope and effectiveness of its outreach and education to such tax-payers. This should provide an area of interest for the tax professionals.
    

9. There is a dearth of meaningful services needed by the low bracket tax-payers who need to meet their obligations regarding tax delinquencies. Without the means to secure adequate representation, low bracket tax payers can find themselves lost in a tax system that would appear to be indifferent, uncarrying, and sometimes hostile. Small business tax-payers have to cope up with complex laws and regulations in order to meet with their tax obligations and filing requirements. Many of them cannot afford professional advice and hardly get adequate help to enable them to understand and comply with their tax obligations.
    

10. Tax-payers with disabilities encounter numerous barriers due to lack of measures and services designed to provide equal access. There should be disability cells and website for providing information about exemptions, deductions and credits available to tax-payers with disability, their caretakers, and employees, which should be appropriately publicized by the Revenue and the revenue professionals.
     

11. The tax professionals can also perform a significant role to deal with ‘no response’ problem. Not responding, at, times, proves to be an economically viable course and is adopted by not accepting or not responding to tax notices. No tax professional should be party to such delaying tactics adopted for a subsequent challenge on the ground of violation of principles of natural justice.
     

12. Tax consultants and practitioners have duties towards their clients as also towards the society. Their expertise is not meant to be a tool for tax evasion by the unscrupulous assessees. Their foremost obligation is to render professional help in working out the correct tax liability of their clients on the basis of their obligations under the taxing statutes. This would involve tax planning for the clients, to ensure them the maximum benefits to which, they may be entitled under the, taxing statutes, and guiding them for legitimately minimizing the tax burdens. In that process, it will be the foremost responsibility of the tax professional to discourage the clients, from adopting any dubious means for evasion of taxes payable by them. It is the duty of a tax professional to verify that the account books reflect the real state of affairs and there are no manipulations aimed at or having the effect of tax evasion. Any abetment or conspiracy in tax evasion by a tax professional will obviously attract the same criminal liability as may be incurred by their tax evading client.
     

13. It is the obligation of tax professionals to expose any, revenue official who demands illegal gratification for rendering a favourable order and to discourage their clients from attempting such illegal shortcuts. Payment of taxes should not be viewed as extortive extractions but be accepted as social obligation to contribute the assessee’s mite to meet public expenditure in a welfare society that confers multifold benefits on its citizens. Tax practitioners must inculcate a sense of pride and discipline amongst their clients in discharging their tax obligations. This they can best do by shunning all malpractices.
     

14. I am sure, both the revenue and the tax-payers will get the benefit of your deliberations for suggesting procedural and substantive reforms to the revenue and safeguarding the rights and interests, of the tax-payers. I hope that the professionals will continue to rise to the occasion for balancing the public and private interests and enforce probity both in the assessments by the revenue officers, and in the filing of tax returns and discharge of the tax obligations by their clients.
    I thank you all for the patient hearing.