Tax planning should not extend to evasion: Dhankhar to CAs

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Friday that in today’s ecosystem of transparency and accountability, the power corridors, which were once plagued by corrupt practices, have undergone a cleansing process. He added that the people who think they are above the law have learnt lessons the hard way. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the Global Professional Accountants Convention in Gandhinagar.

Noting that the adage, “Be you ever so high, the law is always above you,” is now a ground reality, the VP stated, “The people who think they are above law, they are special category, they have learnt lessons the hard way”.

Dhankhar stressed that tax evasion and financial frauds endanger the financial stability and economic growth of the economy. “As watchdogs, your capacity is potent enough to contain these,” he told the gathering of CAs.

“Advising on tax planning is your domain. But this domain has a thin line. This should not extend to tax dodging and tax evasion,” an official release quoted the Vice-President as saying. Describing chartered accountants as the custodians of this thin line between tax planning and evasion, he asked them to “always tilt in favour of tax planning and condemn tax evasion”. He described chartered accountants as a finance equivalents of MRI and CT scan and emphasized that any dilution of their role would have a cascading impact on the nation’s economy and financial health.

In his address, the VP said that CAs, as custodians of financial integrity, need to exemplify by action to secure transparent and accountable financial systems. Asserting that there can be no legal transgression if a CA is so determined, Dhankhar said, “You alone can do this. No one else can do this. This is your exclusive domain. When a CA stands up, the resistance may be momentary, ultimately he has to prevail.”

Cautioning that “compromising of ethics is no less than an earthquake in the fiscal world,” the VP underscored that ethics play a pivotal role in fostering trust and integrity across financial reporting, auditing, taxation, and consulting services. He added that CAs in India have the highest “ethics quotient” by making their clients to adhere to the rule of law.


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