New Delhi, Feb 26 (Inditop.com) When it comes to direct tax proposals, there is always Kautilya! In a repeat of last year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee once again quoted the ancient Indian political strategist in his budget speech Friday.
He said while formulating the tax proposals he was “guided by the principle of sound tax administration as embodied in the following words of Kautilya”.
“Thus a wise collector general shall conduct the work of revenue collection in a manner so that production and consumption should (not) be injuriously affected. Financial prosperity depends on public prosperity, abundance of harvest and prosperity of commerce amongst other things,” he said quoting Kautilya.
Last year in July, Mukherjee had quoted: “Just as one plucks fruits from a garden as they ripen, so shall a king have revenue collected as it becomes due. Just as one does not collect unripe fruits, he shall avoid taking wealth that is not due because that will make the people angry and spoil the very sources of revenue.”
Earlier in the speech, he also quoted Mahatma Gandhi to say India “was contained in the villages”.
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