Wednesday, 2 March 2016

RE: Don't Want to Pay Taxes ?


AGP ,

Somewhere I read that their salaries are tax-free but a soldier who dies on the front , has to pay income tax !

Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh
(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08

From: arun patkar [mailto:patkarag@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 5:00 PM
To: Hemen Parekh
Subject: Re: Don't Want to Pay Taxes ?

Sir, 
will Mr. Sinha say how much taxes are being paid by our MP's and MLA's pay
for the moolah they receive including the free allowances? 

AGP

On Wednesday, 2 March 2016, 12:31, Hemen Parekh <hcp@recruitguru.com> wrote:

Don't  Want  to  Pay  Taxes  ?


An interview in Hindustan Times ( 02 March 2016 ) quotes Shri Jayant Sinha ( Minister of State for Finance ) as follows :

" People in India don't want to pay taxes .

In many societies, people recognize that you have to have a level of taxation for society to flourish

India's top tax rate now is 35 % for the super rich , which is very much on the low side

In the US, depending on the state , it is above 50% .

Our tax to GDP ratio is 16-17% , China has 21-22% , while the US has 25%. The OECD average is 35%

 
That is why we are not able to provide the public services people need

We don't have enough resources .

The citizens have to decide the kind of society they want  "



HT report also mentions that Shri Sinha is an MBA from Harvard and also headed a consulting firm before becoming a Minister .

So , we must pay attention to his views

Especially , his view that " People in India don't want to pay taxes "


But if he were to ask these people , " Why don't you want to pay taxes ? " , they would tell him :


Sir , for all the taxes that we patiently paid for past 68 years , what public services have we got  ?


Sure , you ( NDA / BJP ) may not be responsible for the TRILLIONS of tax rupees that the Establishment and the corrupt politicians pocketed over these years ,


But then , don't blame us for having lost ALL faith in  government's ability to use our tax money for delivering any worthwhile public service !


Will you please care to also compare the public services that people in those other countries get from their respective governments , with the service that we get in India ?


Your comment that we don't " want to pay taxes " , comes as an insult .


We feel like crying at this humiliation !


We wish , you were a little more charitable !


At least as charitable as you have been to those hundreds of rich people who are enjoying their holidays in Europe while defaulting on repayment of Rs 4 lakh*crores worth of loans !


If Bapu were around , he would have launched a " Satyagraha " and told people NOT to pay taxes !


We would rather NOT pay taxes and use that money to get whatever service that we want, directly from non-government agencies in private unorganized sector - agencies which we


*  don't have to VOTE for

*  over which we have total  CONTROL

*  with whom we can  NEGOTIATE  the  LEVEL  of service that we expect

*  which we can  SACK  at will at short notice

*  whom we pay , " AFTER " the delivery of DESIRED service


Dear Shri Sinha :

Just abolish Personal Income Tax and let us fend for ourselves  !

We will be happy to start paying income tax once again , if public services reach even 50 % of what the government of US delivers to its citizens  !


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

02 March  2016
   






Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Monday, February 29, 2016 9:14 AM
To: Hemen Parekh; 'shaktikanta.das@nic.in'; 'narendramodi1234@gmail.com'
Cc: 'Hasmukh Adhia'; 'ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in'; 'jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in'; 'piyush.goyal@gov.in'; 'nitin.gadkari@nic.in'; 'spprabhu1@rediffmail.com'; 'kalraj@kalrajmishra.com'; 'bandaru@sansad.nic.in'; 'amitabh.kant@nic.in'; 'smritizirani@nic.in'; 'nsitharaman@nic.in'; 'nandan@nandannilekani.in'; 'viral@juliacomputing.com'; Editors; L T Story; Loksabha1; Loksabha2; Rajyasabha; TV Anchors
Subject: RE: A TALE OF TWO TRACKING

Don't   Expect   This  in  Budget


Don't expect my following suggestion to figure in the Budget speech which, Shri Jaitleyji will read in Lok Sabha , a few hours from now
 
But then it does not have to be !

First break the unwritten rule :  " If a reform was not announced in Budget , then it cannot be implemented "

My suggestion is about ATM V 2.0


Many decades ago , ATM were first introduced in America when banks found long lines of customers waiting to withdraw cash at the CASH COUNTER

In America , cashiers are called TELLERS . So these CASH DISPENSING machines came to be called AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE ( ATM )

In India , we call these ANY  TIME ( cash ) MACHINE , which give out cash upon

*  entering a few  details / code numbers into ATM screen

*  amount of cash you want to withdraw  and

*  inserting your ATM Card in the machine

ATM prints out a slip of paper incorporating full details of the transaction / customer name etc

I believe , nowadays , any ATM accepts ATM card issued by any bank , so you need not worry to find a ATM belonging to YOUR bank ( where you have YOUR bank account )


MY  SUGGESTION  :


*  Come out with ATM V 2.0 ( call it , " Automatic Taker Machine " ? )

*  Install one in every bank branch and at 145,000 post offices ( India Post's Payment Banks )


*  ATM V 2.0 does  NOT  " dispense" cash . It only " accepts " cash  !


*  Cash depositor will enter personal details ( Aadhar No / Jan Dhan Bank A/C No etc ) and amount being deposited

*  ATM V 2.0 will count the cash ( much like currently used CASH COUNTERS at most bank branches )

*  It will print out a RECEIPT , giving full details

All ATMs ( V 2.0 ) will be inter-connected in a Network having a CENTRAL server

All cash deposited ( by every user ) will be used for Infrastructure SPV

Depositor will earn annual interest @ 5 % on CASH deposited ( Receipt wise )

Cash Receipts can be en-cashed upon maturity of 10 years ( like FIXED DEPOSIT receipts )

Interest will be TAX FREE and get directly deposited in depositor's Jan Dhan Bank A/c

*  No questions ( as to the source of the cash deposited ) will be asked ( Perpetual Amnesty Scheme )


I understand , Jan Dhan Yojana managed to garner deposits of approx Rs 30 thousand crores in 18 months

ATM V 2.0 , will bring back those Rs 34.4 lakh*crores of undisclosed assets that are lying in foreign banks ,

AND

Rs 340 lakh*crores of unaccounted BLACK MONEY lying in domestic bank lockers ( or locked up as gold / land )


In deep space , there are BLACK HOLES which suck in all matter . Even light cannot escape from a black hole

ATM V 2.0 will be our WHITE HOLES which will suck in all black money Indians have stashed anywhere  !

Let us use this INNOVATION , which is simply re-configuring  well-established and straight forward HW / SW !


Dear Shri Jaitleyji ,

There is no need to worry about how to raise revenue to fund those Infrastructure Projects to generate jobs

No need to widen tax net ( from 4 % to 23 % ) or borrow money from market or abroad

No need to announce in your budget speech this morning  ! No passing of any BILL in Rajya Sabha !

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29  Feb  2016
    






Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2016 9:20 AM
To: Hemen Parekh; 'shaktikanta.das@nic.in'; 'narendramodi1234@gmail.com'
Cc: 'Hasmukh Adhia'; 'ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in'; 'jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in'; 'piyush.goyal@gov.in'; 'nitin.gadkari@nic.in'; 'spprabhu1@rediffmail.com'; 'kalraj@kalrajmishra.com'; 'bandaru@sansad.nic.in'; 'amitabh.kant@nic.in'; 'smritizirani@nic.in'; 'nsitharaman@nic.in'; 'nandan@nandannilekani.in'; 'viral@juliacomputing.com'; Editors; L T Story; Loksabha1; Loksabha2; Rajyasabha; TV Anchors
Subject: A TALE OF TWO TRACKING

A  Tale  of  Two  Tracking   !


State of Maharashtra has a total of 50 prisons , of which 9 are Central jails

Between them , they house 25,000-30,000 inmates

The country as a whole, has some 1,387 prisons , housing approx 356,000 prisoners

Maharashtra government has decided to introduce " chip or bracelet " tracking system for prisoners and is in the process of signing an agreement with the Israeli Government under which , private Israeli companies will implement this " tracking " project


Why all this rush for a technology driven reform  ?

Because , in March 2015 , five criminals had fled from the Nagpur jail after climbing boundary wall  !

But no one in government seems to be really bothered with the following :

*  There are billions of high currency notes ( Rs 500 / 1000 ) in circulations

*  A whole lot of these are unaccounted BLACK MONEY income, on which no tax got paid

*  Many more billions are stashed in secret bank lockers , which occasionally "escape" for purchase of gold/land etc

*  High currency notes worth Rs 34.4 lakh*crore have "climbed" national boundaries and escaped without "trace" !
 
*  Today , Government has absolutely no mechanism to " track / trace " such escapes

*  In India more than 90% of all payments ( for goods and services ) are in CASH , quite a few , using these high
    currency notes

*  If payments are made in CASH , no GST / Service Tax can be collected

*  But if the payments get made through official channels ( ECS / Bank Transfers / Credit Cards / Mobile Wallets
    etc ) , then GST can be collected ( or a BTT - Bank Transaction Tax , can be levied )


Now , instead of " dehumanizing " 30,000 prisoners with a RFID-embedded collar around their necks ( as it
happened with Rajat Gupta of McKinsey fame , a few weeks back in New York ) , just so that you can track some
5 prisoners , would it not be much better / wiser to :


*  Discontinue paper-based currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 ( and withdraw in 6 months , with advance notice )


*  Introduce plastic currency notes of Rs 500 / 1,000 which are embedded with RFID sensors ( far thinner than a human hair  ! ) , always broadcasting their presence to Internet of Things ( IoT )

I believe Govt is launching ONE BILLION plastic currency notes of Rs 10 denomination , later this year

Let us make this a PILOT PROJECT , by embedding these with RFID sensors . We will learn a lot in " tracking " ! 


*  Assign to each such note, a IP V 6.0 address , linked to its unique note number


*  Set up a IT-enabled Technology Platform which will constantly monitor any accumulation of Rs 500 / 1000
    RFID embedded notes in excess of Rs ONE CRORE within an area of ONE square meter


Why waste time in tracking a few escaped prisoners ?


Why not leverage technology to track those billions of notes and their criminal owners who are destroying our economy ?


Mr Arvind Subramanian ( Chief Economic Adviser ) should have recommended this in his ECONOMY SURVEY , instead of suggesting to expand tax net to cover 23 % of the Indian citizens , against current 4 %


I believe , humble RFID sensor can get ten times more tax revenue than expanding tax-net to 23 % of citizens !


Incidentally :

Should Shri Jaitley-ji propose expanding the tax-net as suggested , in his budget speech tomorrow , do you know what would happen ?

You don't need to be a Nostradamus to foresee BJP losing ALL state and central elections for the next 10 years !

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


28  Feb  2016










Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08




A report in Business Line ( 25 Feb 2016 ) , reads :

"  Centre wants Indians to abandon cash and make digital payments "

The report lists following measures announced by NDA govt on 24 Feb :

*  Withdrawal of surcharge / service charge / convenience fee on card / digital
 
    payments , currently imposed by govt departments

*  Payments beyond a prescribed threshold only in card / digital mode

*  Rationalize telecom service charges for digital financial transactions

*  Promote mobile banking

*  Create assurance mechanisms for quick resolution of fraudulent transactions

*  Review payment ecosystem in the country


To make it easy for people to make digital payments , Government has already installed :

*  Electronic Clearing Service Scheme

*  National Electronic Funds Transfer

*  Real Time Gross Settlement Scheme

*  Direct transfer of Subsidies to bank accounts of beneficiaries

*  Providing RuPay debit cards

*  Allowing setting up of Payment Banks

Surely , all of these steps will make it EASY for people to GRADUALLY switch over to making digital payments


But , if the HIDDEN AGENDA of the Government behind all of these initiatives , is to reduce / eliminate the scourge of
BLACK MONEY ( always and entirely CASH ) , then the only initiative which will COMPEL people to  " TRASH the CASH " and move over to digital payments in a HURRY, is my oft-repeated suggestion as follows :
*  Discontinue paper-based currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000


*  Introduce plastic currency notes of Rs 500 / 1,000 which are embedded with RFID sensors ( far thinner than a human hair  ! ) , always broadcasting their presence to Internet of Things ( IoT )


*  Assign to each such note, a IP V 6.0 address , linked to its unique note number


*  Set up a IT-enabled Technology Platform which will constantly monitor any accumulation of Rs 500 / 1000
    RFID embedded notes in excess of Rs ONE CRORE within an area of ONE square meter


If there is a political will , technology can bring this revolution in 6 months  !


Can we expect Shri Jaitley-ji to conclude his Budget speech on 29 Feb , with this announcement ?

The applause that follows will be heard around the World  !

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


26  Feb  2016 




Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08


Exporting    Manpower  ?


Our exports have been falling, month after month , for the past 18 months in a row


But this is not unique to India


With rapidly shrinking World Trade , exports of nearly all countries around the world are falling


Barring a few exceptions , economies of all the countries are declining


So , it came as a surprise to read a news report ( BL / 20 Feb ) , that , despite the fact that Malaysia has 2.1 million registered foreign workers and 1.7 million illegal foreign workers , it signed a deal with Bangladesh to hire another 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers , over the next 3 years  !


As expected, local trade unions have criticized this deal


Now let us not start putting together a strategy for Manpower Export , despite the fact that of all the countries in the World , India has the largest number of its citizens working abroad ( legal + illegal )


I believe , close to 22 million persons of Indian origin , with some 7 million in Gulf Countries


But trade unions and political parties everywhere are vehemently opposed to migrant workers who take away jobs from local residents


Even EU , which accepted some 1 million refugees from war-torn Syria / Iraq / Afghanistan , in 2015 , have started repatriating what it terms as " Economic Migrants "  seeking " better life " in EU , as distinct from political refugees


But that is not stopping 3000 such " refugees "(political or economic), from forcing their way into EU , every day  !


Within India , we have seen in the past ( and continue to witness , currently ) , economically backward people ( euphemism for " poor " ) , migrating to cities in other relatively affluent States , in search of livelihood , occasionally . causing resentment among local citizens


So far , such inter-state migrations have not caused any serious problem because of our Unifying forces of religion / language / culture / heritage / traditions and our Constitution


But with annual addition of some 12 million persons (including some 3.5 million graduates ), to our legions of jobseekers , things could get ugly - especially since neither the Public nor the Private sector , can create this many jobs every year !


We need to find ways in which these millions can become " Self Employed "


I hope that each and every announcement that Shri Jaitley makes in his budget speech on 29 Feb , would lead to creation of " Self Employment " in the economically backward States of India


With most of our States being the size of many EU countries , we may not be in a position to Export Manpower , even across our State boundaries , forget across the  International borders  !


For Indian Federal structure to hold together , we must work on the double to reduce inequality between States !


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24  Feb  2016





Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh
(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08


International    Exchange   Program


We have all heard about these programs under which , ( for example ) students from India would go to USA , spend a few weeks with American families and even attend local universities


In turn , American students would spend similar period in India ( may be , with the parents of those Indian students who went to USA  ) and attend Indian Colleges


In the process , both groups learn the customs / traditions / life-styles of their host Societies


I suppose , they also learn quite a lot about the Education Systems of host countries


Which would include , academic pursuit and teaching methods


But , above all , they would learn how the students behave in the class rooms and how the teachers maintain discipline


I believe , it must be a " Shocking " experience for those Indian students to find that professors in USA wield unimaginable  power , unfettered by the Dean or Chancellor of those colleges

Eg :

*   A professor's is the final word in the evaluation of any student ( no court of higher appeal )

*   Quite a lot of that evaluation is based on the number and the quality of questions asked by the students

*   " Shot-gun "  exams are a teacher's way of judging the progress of the students

*   If any student absents from class room without a satisfactory reason ( ie satisfactory to the subject teacher ),
     the teacher can simply tell him to stop attending the classes ! Heavy rains or snow storm does not count !


And the Dean cannot question the professor's decision


*   Teachers don't prescribe any text books , but they may suggest a dozen books to refer to

*   Many teachers just " refuse to teach " ! They insist that the students come to class , having " self taught " the
    subject and the class room is only for the purpose of "solving difficulties" faced by students while self-teaching !


*   Emphasis is not on a student remembering the exact mathematical equation but on knowing which equation to
     use  !

     Hence , most professors will allow a student to look up any book during an exam  !


*   Even arriving at the exact / precise " answer " is not considered important . It is your " approach " to solving a
     problem that counts more .

Were you able to suggest a non-traditional and distinctly innovative " approach " ?



MORAL   OF  THE  STORY  :



How about Shri Narendra Modiji ( himself , a champion of " Out of Box " thinking ) , signing an " Exchange Agreement "  with President Obama , under which , a batch of 40 Indian Legislators ( to begin with , opposition members of Rajya Sabha ) , are deputed to USA for 6 months ( or till GST Bill gets passed ? ) to attend the sessions of US Congress / Senate , to learn / imbibe their ways of conducting official business ?


Of course , our deputed legislators must be paid a " Copycat-ing Allowance " of $ 100 per day while in USA  !

After all , cafeteria in American Congress building does not provide "dosas" @ Rs 2 per piece !


While readily agreeing to the Indian request , it is quite possible that President Obama may politely decline to send the American Legislators to attend our Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha's budget session  ! Entirely understandable  !


Dear Shri Venkaiah-ji :


 You may get much more cooperation from all parties after 6 months  !


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


23  Feb  2016





Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08


A   Laughing   Matter  ?


Last evening, TV channels showed the traditional " Halwa Ceremony " in the Finance Ministry building

With this , the process of preparing / printing of the Union Budget starts

The people involved will stay " imprisoned / incommunicado " till FM completes his budget speech on 29th Feb , to ensure that the budget provisions do not leak out

That does not stop the experts ( - and some non-experts like me ) , to make predictions such as :

Revising limits for personal Income Tax slabs

Reducing rates for TDS

Rationalizing procedures ( assessment scrutiny / tax refunds / tax litigations etc )

Launching new Schemes / Funds for savings and investments

Increase / decrease of Excise rates on products ( watch out smokers and drinkers ! )

Increase / decrease of Import Duties on products to protect local industries / stop dumping from China

Recapitalization of Banks ( to write-off Rs 7 lakh*crore of NPA with tax payers money )

Write-off DISCOM debts of Rs 4 lakh*crores by passing the buck to State Governments ( tax payer burden ? )

Write off loans to farmers - what with elections looming in 5 States ( but I support this  )


News papers report that the Government have received budget suggestions from some 7,000  persons and that , this time around , Prime Minister himself is closely involved in the budget making exercise

Now , with all this obsession / seriousness / paranoia , surely this secrecy surrounding the budget document , cannot be a laughing matter  !

Unless you ask ,

* some foreign software geeks ( eg: Sundar Pichai / Satya Nadela / Vivek Ranadive / Ray Kurzweil etc )

* some Indian BIG  DATA  ANALYTICS geeks ( Mukund / Krishnan / Sanjay / Srikant / Raj / Anurag etc )


Because , if you do , they will laugh and tell you :


Just give us the actual budget documents of the past 60 years ( including the accompanying budget speeches ) and we will process these documents using Big Data Analytics software and predict what will be the provisions in the forthcoming budget ( with a probability of 99.7 % - ie ; plus or minus six standard deviation )


And then , we will process those past budget speeches with a PARAPHRASING software ( ala Kurzweilai.net ) and give you an advance print-out of Shri Arun Jaitleyji's speech on 29th Feb  "


But of course , Shri Jaitleyji could cheat the PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS , by announcing following unpredictable  :


*   Total Abolition of Personal Income Tax ( or at least , reducing incremental tax rates in each higher slab )

*   Decreasing Incremental Corporate Tax Rates , linked with each higher slab of " Permanent Employee Number "

*   Perpetual Amnesty Scheme for all CASH deposits made in Jan Dhan Accounts , if invested in tax-free Infra SPVs

*   Transfer of 1.8% of GST (from 18%) into buyers' PPF a/c , to ensure all citizens get PPF a/c for tax-free savings

     This amount to be used for paying premium for COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH INSURANCE to cover all illnesses

*   Introduction of plastic Currency Notes of Rs 500/1000, embedded with micro RFID sensors ( stop Black Money )

     Surest way to ensure that almost all payments are made thru official channels !

*   Introduction of BTT ( Bank Transaction Tax ) @ 2% to yield Rs 15 lakh*crore of revenue ( against revenue loss
    of  Rs 2.5 lakh*crores caused by abolishing Personal Income Tax )


Now such announcements , besides being " Unpredictable " , would meet Shri Narendra Modiji's following announcement at Make in India week on 13th Feb  :


There is no time for incremental changes . We want a quantum jump  "


Any other budget provision / announcement , would be a laughing matter  !

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20  Feb  2016
    
 
   



Warm Regards,

Hemen Parekh

(M)=91 – 98,67,55,08,08



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