150 yr. of I-T

On July 24, 2010, the income-tax legislation in India will be completing 150 years. This is a big milestone in the history of I-T Department. Income taxation in India has been in existence since ancient times. There are references to it in Manusmriti. Manu, the great law giver, said that taxes should be levied according to ‘ Sastras', that is, these should be just, fair and not excessive. He advocated that these should be collected in the manner the bee takes honey from the flowers. Kalidas expressed the view that the collection of taxes should be in the way Sun draws moisture from the Earth to give it back a thousand-fold.