Direct Taxes should be 12 Percent of GDP: Mukherjee

Kolkata: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the share of direct tax revenue should be 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). "Direct taxes, being most efficient and non-inflationary, are not having their due share in the GDP," he said here. "The share of direct taxes in the tax basket has been substantial but my desire is to see, sooner rather than later, for them to reach 12 percent of our GDP, that too at constant prices, not at current prices," he said. Mukherjee was in Kolkata to inaugurate the city's first Aayakar Seva Kendra (ASK)-- a single-window help centre for tax payers. "In this budget, I have set a target of 5.7 lakh crore of direct tax revenue realisation. To achieve the target, it is important the assessees are provided with hassle-free services," he said. "ASK not only helps in increasing transparency but also provides hassle-free services. (People) will not have to run from one officer to another as ASK is a single-window centre," he said. The inmcme tax department plans to open 50 such centres in the country. In West Bengal, besides Kolkata, Hooghly has such a centre while Durgapur and Jalpaiguri will get one each soon.