Hon’ble Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Railways and Coal, has sent the clarion call to all CAs that if they decide to “practice honestly”, then the problem of corruption in the country will be resolved. However, some CAs have taken exception to the allegation that some practice dishonestly.
Tax fraud is facilitated by CAs
Hon’ble Piyush Goyal is a distinguished Chartered Accountant himself.
He is an all-India second rank holder.
He is also the second rank holder in Law from the Mumbai University.
The Learned Minister was addressing a distinguished gathering of CAs and students at the ICAI Annual Function.
He was very blunt in his criticism of Chartered Accountants.
He lamented that CAs are facilitating all sorts of “Tax Chori” by unscrupulous taxpayers.
He pointed out that during the demonetisation drive, the CA community had devised strategies to circumvent the legal requirements.
They are also instrumental in setting up numerous shell companies and falsely certifying their accounts as being true and fair, he said.
He alleged that even under the present GST regime, the CAs have devised devious strategies to help their clients escape the tax dragnet.
“If all chartered accountants come together and decide that they will only practice honesty, then the problem of corruption in the country will be resolved,” the learned Minister said.
He also reminded the CAs that the taxes paid by citizens are used by the Government to provide security and basic facilities to the Nation and that it is unethical that they facilitate any sort of tax evasion by their clients.
If all chartered accountants come together and decide that they will only practice honesty, then the problem of corruption in the country will be resolved: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) February 6, 2018
सभी चार्टर्ड एकाउंटेंट्स को तय करना चाहिये कि इस देश को बदलने में हम पहल करेंगे, और कोई भी गलत कार्य नही होने देंगे: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) February 6, 2018
टैक्स की चोरी यदि कोई करता है तो वह किसी गरीब को गरीब बनाये रखने में सहयोग देता है, ईमानदारी आसान रास्ता नही है, लेकिन यदि एक बार तय कर लें तो इस पर चलना संभव है: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) February 6, 2018
Urge you all to try and work in a way so that we can become the architects of the New India and create an atmosphere where people are people are paying their taxes honestly: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) February 6, 2018
Piyush Goyal’s statements met with mixed reactions from the CAs.
Sorry Feeling ashamed that u even saying these words instead of increasing brand value all professional working day and night for successful implementation despite these words join practice u will see
— S K Agarwal (@ska_naman) February 6, 2018
@PiyushGoyalOffc So , you think CA are not working honestly. Just because of tax practitioner, you get the taxes on time. Don’t defame the profession. You are also part of it.
— CA CHANDAN SHAHI (@cachandanshahi) February 6, 2018
Sir, I am a BJPian by birth. With due respect I would like to ask you:
Do you think CA's are not honest in their work??
And what about ministers in the government, they all are honest ??— The VIRU (@Vspeaks_) February 6, 2018
(2/2)CA's those are in practice or job worked day and night for success of GST. They are working hard to ensure the compliance of laws in the country.
We respect you a lot and expect you to take back your tweet.
Thanks.https://t.co/kQbeWqx8LE— The VIRU (@Vspeaks_) February 6, 2018
Sorry to say but we CA’s dont have any platform where we can say that if all politicians come together & decide that they will only work honestly then the problem of corruption in the country will be resolved. We are moving towards wrong directions. Need an alarm Sir. @theicai pic.twitter.com/A7FOVQX5Le
— CA ROHIT RUWATIA (@rohit_ruwatia) February 6, 2018
Good that you think about corruption because there is no steps taken by govt to crackdown on Corrupt Netas and Corrupt Babus
Tax collection is responsibility of govt machinery which is failing miserably and not CAs.
Thanks
— Atul Modani (@atulmodani) February 6, 2018
If all advocates comes together and decide not to defend criminals in court of law, then this country will become crime free soon!
— Vineet Jain (@vinejain) February 6, 2018
GST का सॉफ्टवेयर 2018 के जगह 2017 ले रहा ।। सॉफ्टवेयर आप लोग से सम्भल नही रहा और यहाँ फालतू के ज्ञान पेल रहे है ।।आपके बकवास सॉफ्टवेयर ने 7 महीने से CAs की नींद हराम कर रखी है ,आपको कुछ पता भी है?? या आप भी सिर्फ कांग्रेस की तरह देश को ठगने चले है ??? pic.twitter.com/A53CttmNdf
— CA Dhananjay Singh (@CADhananjay1) February 6, 2018
(1/2)You thinks CA's are the only responsible for corruption in the country. All Ministers, CBI, CAG, Police, Administrative officers, all judges and other gov. peoples are certified honest by birth.https://t.co/kQbeWqx8LE
— The VIRU (@Vspeaks_) February 6, 2018
Pls be assured sir about d honesty of our members. Few black sheep can’t brand our noble profession. If govt wants watchdogs to be greyhounds pls walk d talk-independently appoint all auditors for all entities and see the results! Else pls don’t let exceptions be generalized.
— Aniket Talati (@anikettalati) February 7, 2018
I am sure your bosses in party are letting you talk like this because as a CA you are well aware of reality
Arrogance of Ministers & Babus is killing tax collection & not legal advice of CA, even CBDT chief agrees that they can't track down defaulters & hence keep harassing pic.twitter.com/0jDxdcujv3— Atul Modani (@atulmodani) February 6, 2018
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also advised CAs to walk on the right path
On an earlier occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a veiled dig at CAs who might have helped entities in dealing with illicit funds post-demonetisation.
Modi said he heard that after November 8, CAs had to do a lot of work but not sure how many did work for their clients and how many for the nation.
Referring to November 8, 2016 when the government demonetised old Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes, Modi said he had heard that after the move, the work of CAs increased and that even many of them cancelled their Diwali holidays.
It is time that the ICAI and similar bodies of the professionals stop, if not ban, inviting the Government personnel, be that the ministers or officers, for any and all functions. Stop this ‘Aa Bel Mujhe Mar’ opportunities and be a willing and sitting duck. If already invited, to use the occasion for bringing to their attention the true state of affairs in the country by calling spade a spade. It is sad to take note of a highly disruptive and loose comment passed by an important and trusted minister, about the CAs without exceptions, generally. I am sure that he is aware of the forces working for corrupting the country over decades mainly saddled in the Government including the lawmakers and executioners, many of them have been largely responsible for using a few black sheep as their stooges. The rot lies within his fraternity and the stooges are just puppets in the system. Having said that there surely is a need for serious introspection by the professionals and weed out the rot that causes the regular bashings of even a large number of those who try their best to earn a honest living.
It is unfair to blame CAs for the mess that the Country is in. If at all, it is the CAs who have to be praised for ensuring that some businessmen are still maintaining high ethical standards. By refusing to sign dodgy accounts, the CAs are able to rein in adventurous and unscrupulous businessmen who may be willing to cut corners. So, the Learned Minister ought to have praised CAs instead of condemning them in the manner that he di.
if our senior thinks that we, chartered accountants, are not honest, then the act of C A should be abolished, and then see, the economy of our country were goes. All person knows whether C A are dishonest, or GOVT. OFFICIALS
Fact – by and large CAs in the name of tax planning tread the narrow borderline between legal and illegal. To be expected as they are retained to reduce their clients tax liability.
Fact – a large number of CAs collect speed money to finalize assessments etc. whether this actually is paid to bureaucrats or pocketed is the moot question. [Equally guilty are ADVOCATES & TAX PRACTIONERS – so let us not indulge in the name of pot calling the kettle black].
Fact – ICAI is fantastic. It really does a commendable job of training and certifying CAs. But it is quick to react to complaints about the falling standards of the profession.
Fact – If a person holds out to be a CA, it is not possible either for the client or IT Department to verify the status. Only when such incidents occur does the truth come out. Such so called CAs are very careful never to sign an audit report or issue certificates – so the clients do not really get to know the truth.
Solution – The ICAI and IT Department should exchange information and publish the list of fake CAs. But the minister’s statement is perfectly true, but it is wrong to paint everyone with the same brush.
Without Malice towards everyone:
Dear C.A(s)
If you think that there r no Black Sheep among C.A(s), I think you r mistaken. Do you ever considered the trustworthy of your Mandatory Audit Report U/s 44B of the Income Tax Act. If You claim these reports to be trustworthy, why your Institution did not object to the provisions of section 142(2A) of the Act? You did not object because of lust to get more work and hefty fee for the same kind of services twice. Invoking of the Provisions of section 142(2A) itself proves that the Audit Report given under section 44B of the Act is not believed by the Department, which otherwise indicates more then it meets the eyes.When you claim that the C.A(s) are the sole custodians of the knowledge relating to the Financial matters, Accountancy and Book Keeping etc, then if not the C.A(s) who else can intermingle with the Financial matters of any Tax Payer-though it may be on the advice/insistence of the Taxpayer itself.
When the Audit Report u/s 44B is found to be not trustworthy, how a report u/s 142(2A) or other Financial Statements, Balance Sheets can be Trustworthy.
If the institution is so worried about its status let it Publish a white paper relating to the Financial Scames happened on account of involvement of the C.A(s), so that public can Trust the Profession and Professionals ( I am sure no such paper will ever be published). Expression of these views does not mean that there r no black sheeps in other Professions.
The comments of Minister CA Piyus Goyal are irresponcible .
The population of India is 132 crores and There are 2 lac CAs in India. That means 131.98 crore people r honest . Do 2 lac people have so much power to control 132 criteria people. Foolish this govt is most unfortunate govt India. They wasted 4 golden years of Indian economy
The kind of remarks made by the CA. Minister & earlier by the head of the Indian administration deserves no merit of response and need to be ignored. The entrepreneur community will do that for sure.
The politicians do not do their job of lawmaking properly and blame others for the poor implementation and performance. The entire fiasco of GST will vouch for itself.
Let the leaders , politicians, be they of any political party in India, be models by being honest first.
Please lead us by example, We will stay with you. Empty talk need to be ignored only.
If Government impose ACCOUNTABILITY on government employees then this country would become Corruption free immediately. There is not a single developed nation in the world without this concept. If government throw citizens mercilessly against this absolutely powered and corrupted beuros then what are the remedy available with citizen and CA?
People talk like this because we donot come to the streets to fight. They think that this is the weakness of our profession and hence they talk as they like
Not only CA’s the other two professions Lawyers and doctors follow the path of dharma this country will bloom