The UP state government paid Rs 86 lakh as the ministersā tax bill for last financial year, said a senior finance ministry official
Lucknow-The Yogi Adityanath cabinet has passed a proposal that has made mandatory for the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and his cabinet colleagues to file and pay their own income tax.
The cabinet practice for 40 years the state government paying the income tax of the ministers and the sitting chief minister in accordance with the provisions of the UP Ministers’ Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Act, 1981 enacted by the then VP Singh government in the state.
Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna very recently said that ministers will soon start paying their own income tax as decided by the Chief Minister declared. The provision has been in the state since 1981 when the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances, and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act was passed by the legislative assembly. VP Singh was the chief minister at that time.
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Since the provision has been preserved by successive governments. Leaders such as ND Tiwari, Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajnath Singh, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and now Yogi Adityanath: all these chief ministers, and more, as well as their teams have availed this facility. The state has seen around 1,000 ministers benefit from this law for nearly four decades.
The state government paid Rs 86 lakh as the ministersā tax bill for last financial year, said a senior finance ministry official.
āThe was an act existing from 1981 during VP Singh’s time. Whatever is being done is in pursuance with that Act, even as he assured that the government would look into suggestions about what could be done about it said Shrikant Sharma power minister of Uttar Pradesh.
As per the provision of a section of Act, the salary referred to in its sub-sections of (1) and (2) shall be exclusive of the tax payable in respect of such salary (including perquisites) under the law relating to income tax for the time being in force, and such tax shall be borne by the state.
As per the logic presented by an officer, the till now CM had the perception that most of the ministers came from very humble backgrounds. They had lesser means to support them. So, this privilege was extended to them until now.
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Although, reality sites a different story. Past years UP has seen CMs like Mayawati who has Personal assets worth Rs 111 crore as per her affidavit for the Rajya Sabha polls in 2012. The former chief minister, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, owns assets worth over Rs 37 crore together with his wife Dimple Yadav, according to the affidavit filed for the recent Lok Sabha elections 2019.
According to the affidavit submitted for the assembly elections in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s assets are worth Rs 95,98,053.
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