Jaitley asks taxmen to be 'firm and fair'

Asking the new Indian Revenue Service officers to be 'firm and fair' in tax collection, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said a taxman's job does not involve giving any concessions or discounts.

"Your job in the matter of tax collection has to be guided by firmness and fairness. A taxman's job is mixed, he has to be firm and he has to be fair. There are no discounts or concession which he is entitled to give," Jaitley said.

Speaking at an event to inaugurate the Professional Training of the 66th batch of IRS (Customs & Central Excise) probationers here, Jaitley also asked the new officers to maintain a fine balance between what taxes are to be charged and what not. "... it is your responsibility to see tax laws are implemented strictly.

Whatever tax is chargeable is being charged and what is not chargeable is not charged. It is this fine balance which you have to make," Jaitley said.

Noting that the government is not an easy place to work, the Finance Minister advised young Indian Revenue Services officers to do things which effectively pass ethics of morality.

As the government is committed to roll-out the Goods and Services Taxes (GST) by April 1, 2016, the Finance Minister asked the young officers to be ready to adjust themselves to the changed tax regime.

"By the time you finish your training, the mode of taxation and its collection would have changed. So therefore you will have to adjust to changed tax regime," Jaitley said.

"You have also the IT backbone at your disposal... whether its customs, central excise and service tax. These are all going to be collected in a converged manner," he added.