As soon as reports came in yesterday that the Finance Ministry had added new rules for filing Income Tax returns, which included seeking unnecessarily intrusive information like expenses incurred on foreign trips, many people on Twitter took to express dissatisfaction over the move.
These users used the hashtag #SayNoToTaxTerrorism to protest against the move that also asked every taxpaying citizen of this country to give details of all their bank accounts.
OpIndia.com too wrote an open letter to the Finance Minister explaining why these moves could adversely impact the sentiments. We suggested some simpler alternatives to the Minister earlier today as these steps were taken apparently to check black money in the country.
Towards the evening came the news that the Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley had decided to review the earlier decision. This was perhaps one of the quickest responses to concerns raised by citizens online on any policy issue.
We bring to you some selected tweets with the hashtag #SayNoToTaxTerrorism that got the government to review its earlier decision.
It started with tweets pointing out why it was necessary to keep the Income Tax return filing simple:
Taxable income reporting is directly proportional to ease of reporting it. A tedious process will increase hoarding. #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— Tax TerroRatty (@YearOfRat) April 17, 2015
Also domestic travel, grocery bills, Uber receipts should be declared. Screw the salaried & complicate the tax returns #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— K Sudarshan (@SudarshanEMA) April 17, 2015
Them some suggestions on what would be a better thing to do:
If you really want to stop black money in India, monitor real estate dealings. Try to make these deals cashless. #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— Super Fat Bully (@Vyomnaut) April 17, 2015
First broaden the tax net @arunjaitley before you begin twisting the dagger inside those who’re already paying taxes. #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— What Ho! (@waatho) April 17, 2015
Some tweets expressing annoyance and anger at the decision:
Instead of reducing the harassment people face before IT offs,the Modi Govt is planning to make life even more tough #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— IndiaSpeaks (@IndiaSpeaksPR) April 17, 2015
Minimum Governmnet, Maximum Torment #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) April 17, 2015
An odd joke around the rules and on the Finance Minister:
Arun Jaitley should give details of trips to NDTV studios 😀 #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) April 17, 2015
A silver lining was also seen by some in the whole process:
Those who whine about Rightwing on twitter being only ‘bhakts’, see how many are are supporting #saynototaxterrorism.. Difference b/w L n R
— Heman Bhimani (@BhimaniHeman) April 17, 2015
#SayNoToTaxTerrorism – the diff. between BJPians & rest. We don’t support BJP on all issues. We’re rational nationalists, not blind Bhakts.
— No bakwaas ! (@Amanofreason_) April 17, 2015
And a hope that was fulfilled when reports came in this evening that the government had decided to review:
The only hope is, unlike the UPA, this government seems to hear what people are saying. So hoping for a rollback. #SayNoToTaxTerrorism
— A Fixed Point (@a_fixed_point) April 17, 2015
