THE NEW tax adviser to the State Government, N S Thakur, will take only Rs 12 for the fiscal 2006-7 whereas his predecessor Pramod Sharma reportedly charged Rs 40,000 per year for a decade.
However, the Finance Department was not impressed by the new tax adviser’s philanthropy and objected that Thakur, an income tax practitioner, was not a qualified chartered accountant - an essential qualification for post of tax adviser.
According to Finance Department sources, Thakur had been lobbying for the post for quite some time. Twice, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned the file on his appointment. However, eventually a lobby in the BJP prevailed upon the CM and Thakur’s appointment was cleared by the State Cabinet on Monday last.
They said that to facilitate Thakur’s appointment, the State Government introduced the provision that income tax practitioners could also participate in the tender process for the tax adviser’s job. Till last year, only CAs were eligible for the job.
Whereas Thakur quoted Rs 12 per year for the job, another income tax practitioner Rajesh Kumar offered advice free of cost. Baffled by such offers, the GAD sought to introduce the clause that applicants quoting fees below Rs 25,000 would be rejected, but was unsuccessful.
{{/usCountry}}Whereas Thakur quoted Rs 12 per year for the job, another income tax practitioner Rajesh Kumar offered advice free of cost. Baffled by such offers, the GAD sought to introduce the clause that applicants quoting fees below Rs 25,000 would be rejected, but was unsuccessful.
{{/usCountry}}Finance Minister Raghavji told Hindustan Times that he had expressed his views regarding appointment of the tax adviser on file.