Collection and Recovery of Taxes in India: A Lacunae yet to be Fulfilled

Abstract

Tax can be defined as a mandatory contribution to the revenue levied and enforced by a government entity from the income or business profit of the individual or the organization. This mandatory contribution is involuntary in nature. Failure or evasion of paying taxes are punishable by law. It is a proverb that a fine is a tax for doing something wrong whereas a tax is a fine for doing something good for the civilized society. Every nation has own sets of law for governing taxes, has its own procedure for collection and recovery of taxes. Article 265 of the Constitution of India says, “No tax shall be levied or collected except by the authority of law”. Income Tax Act, 1961 as amended by Finance Act, time to time governs direct taxes and the Central goods and services tax Act, 2017 governs indirect taxes in India. India has dedicated Revenue Service Officers for collecting and recovering taxes. This article aims at finding the lacunae and suggest some remedy for better administration of taxes and performance of economy.