India Intelligence Report
 

FBT to Track Corporate Malpractice

 

Experts are questioning the Constitutional validity of the controversial Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), which may force the Government to either withdraw it or amend the Income Tax Act of 1961. The FBT was introduced in April 2005 as a mechanism to tax deemed "benefits" that a company offers its employees. Shockingly, normal business expenses such as business travel, entertainment of customers, etc. were suddenly deemed "benefits" given to the employee. The other items included were company paid car, housing which companies and employees to evade income tax illegitimately manipulated. Instead of introducing taxation policy that encourages economic building activity such as home ownership, savings, and investment, the tax structure encouraged home rental and automobile ownership. The tax structure encouraged corporate malpractice often trying to hide income and showing illegitimate expenses as legitimate. The FBT exacerbated the problem by taxing all expenses dealing with employees without determining true employee income and illegitimate expense. The Constitutional question on FBT is that current tax laws allow the taxation of a net income of a company and not on expenses for which no value has been assigned and without determination of whether the expense can be translated into income.

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