Chandigarh: The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Tuesday passed three separate bills to exempt cabinet ministers and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) from payment of income tax on the perks allowed to them.
According to the amended legislation, brought in by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, the state will now pay the taxes incurred by the ministers and the leader of the opposition on the “free furnished house and other perquisites admissible to a minister” under the `The East Punjab Ministers’ Salaries Act, 1947’.
Terming it as a “correction” of an anomaly, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal told the House that ministers, including the chief minister, had been paying more income tax than their income.
“The salary of the chief minister, for instance, is Rs 13 lakh but his tax liability is Rs 17 lakh,” Badal said.
Retraction of 2018 amendment
The move is also a partial retraction of the Congress government’s decision last year that made it compulsory for ministers and the leader of the opposition to pay income tax on their income and allowances.
In 2018, the assembly had amended the `The East Punjab Ministers’ Salaries Act, 1947’ and placed the tax burden of the salary and allowances of ministers on them.
“Since 1947, the government in Punjab had been paying taxes on salaries/allowances and perks of the ministers, till the Captain Amarinder government had decided to amend the law last year,” Badal said. As a result, various sections of `The East Punjab Ministers’ Salaries Act, 1947’, which provided for Income Tax to be paid by the state government on the salary, allowances, free furnished house and other perquisites admissible to the chief minister, ministers, deputy ministers and LoP were deleted.
On Tuesday, however, the assembly added a section to the Act to state that “the free furnished house and other perquisites admissible to a minister under this Act shall be exclusive of income tax, which shall be payable by the government”.
Opposition slams move
The Congress government’s decision was slammed by the opposition on the ground that it will translate into the state paying lakhs as taxes on behalf of the ministers.
“The ministers are all capable enough to pay their own taxes,” said the Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Bikram Singh Majithia. “Why should this burden be shifted to the state exchequer?”
Badal sharply retorted to Majithia saying the government was only correcting an anomaly which had crept in while amending the salaries act last year.
Leader of opposition, AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, however, said that he had been paying his income tax till last year and he welcomed the change made in the House on Tuesday.
For the MLAs, the state government continues to pay the income tax on salary and allowances.
Also read: The former Punjab chief minister who fought terror and loved tea
This is a disgrace