Somebody said that the only certainty in life is tax and death. You can never escape from taxes of one type of other, however poor you may be. Where will the government go for getting money except by taxing you and me?
One of the objectives of taxation is getting REVENUE. But that is not the only objective. TAXATION is a very powerful instrument in the hands of a government to achieve several objectives.
For example,cigarette smoking is injurious for health. It is a statutory warning. Every year, the government imposes very high excise duty on cigarette and other tobacco products. Consequently,the cigarette price will be beyond the reach of people with meagre incomes. But then the persons addicted to cigarettes would rather reduce their other essential expenses than quit smoking. Such people contribute to the revenue of the government immensely. In any case,the government believes that a high duty on cigarettes would discourage their consumption. Duty on alcoholic liquor has similar objectives.
Suppose a country like China dumps its manufactured products in India at very cheap prices.Surely it would cause injury to domestic industry. So Indian government would initiate a procedure to levy ANTI-DUMPING duty on such products. After paying ANTI-DUMPING duty,it would not make sense to the traders to sell such goods in the Indian market. The price would be prohibitive.
When you import goods from other countries,you have to pay them in a strong currency like US DOLLARS. Rupees have to be converted to dollars. In good old days, INDIA had insufficient foreign exchange reserves to meet all essential needs. There was very strict control of foreign exchange. Many goods were not allowed to be imported. There was a ban. Even where the goods could be imported with a LICENCE, there would be savage rates of CUSTOMS DUTIES. Like 300% to 400%. What I want to emphasise here,is the enormous power of tax levy at the disposal of a government to achieve several of its objectives.
In respect of imported goods,apart from the normal customs duty,the government would impose a COUNTERVAILING DUTY which is equal to the excise duty reliable on like products in India. Is it getting too technical? But a management student should have an idea though he is not expected to be a tax expert.
How is the tax calculated?
In respect of tax on income,it is easy. The tax is calculated on the taxable income. How the TAXABLE INCOME is computed need not worry us. Suppose the rate of income tax is 10% on the TAXABLE income and if the TAXABLE income in a particular case is ₹300000,the tax would be ₹30000 only.
However in respect of CUSTOMS and excise duties, there are generally two ways of calculating the tax burden. Tax is always a burden! The tax department freely uses the word, " burden". After all,the tax inspector is also a tax payer.
AD VALOREM DUTY
AD VALOREM duty is based on the value of the goods. If you want to pay less duty,you would show less value. But it is difficult for you to outsmart the customs men. The AD VALOREM DUTY is a percentage of the value of the goods. Say, 10%,15%,20% and so on.
SPECIFIC DUTY would be based on the quantity imported or cleared. For example,1000 per tonne. Hope you understood. You may declare less quantity to reduce your liability. But then the customs or excise inspector is not to be taken for granted. He would smell a rat. He is trained for that.
Shall we continue in the next post?
Happy learning!
SAYEE Jayaraman
01/03/2015