« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Budget 2024 makes new income tax regime more attractive: See how much taxes you can now save  ITR filing 2024: New vs old income tax regimes, 6 key things to consider while filing your tax return  These five technical glitches may impact your Income tax return (ITR) filing. Know here  ITR filing 2023-24: How to optimise Section 80D deductions at the time of filing tax returns  ITR filing 2023-24: Top 7 mistakes to avoid for hassle-free income-tax return filing this year  Income tax returns for FY 2023-24: Keep these 8 tax law changes in mind while filing ITR this year  ITR Filing 2024: Know who can and cannot file income tax returns using ITR-1 this year  Income Tax Filing: 10 necessary guidelines that you must be aware of  Why you should file your income tax returns before July 31  What is Form 26AS? How to download Form 26AS to file Income Tax Return (ITR)  Income Tax Return: What are the alternatives to Form 16 that can be used while filing ITR? «  Bill on new company law in winter session: Gupta... Needed, innovative financing of infrastructure... » 'Impose cap gains tax to address rich-poor divide' June, 30th 2007 Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs suggestion to cap corporate sector salaries to reduce inequalities may not be a good idea, according to public finance expert Amaresh Bagchi. Instead, the government could impose a tax on capital gains from shares sold after one year of purchase and also on dividends. This would help bridge the divide between haves and the have-nots, he says. There can be no quarrelling with the objective the Prime Minister has set for the corporate sector developing social responsibility. Gross inequalities are a concern of the state and powerful instruments are available to the government for this purpose such as adequate taxation of capital gains, he said at the National Institute of Bank Management Convocation on Friday. Currently investors do not have to pay any tax on long-term capital gains from sale of shares. Dividends are also not taxed in their hands. Left parties have been pitching for scrapping long-term capital gains tax exemption. But the government has not relented so far. Mr Bagchi took a jab at the RBI report on currency and finance for being upbeat on the India growth story, but silent on the great divide that is taking place. It would be a mistake to think that efficiency in production alone would mitigate these consequences. Attention has to be paid to the question of equity as well, he said. He was critical of reservations as a panacea to provide equal opportunities to all. The right course was to offer good quality education and primary health and this is where the state has failed, he said. Besides corporates chipping in, banks too have a social responsibility of bridging this divide. More loans to the priority sector is not the right solution as it impedes efficiency. Banks could help the poor by innovative banking like micro credit. They could also help by ensuring that farmers and SMEs get adequate and timely credit. Had banks been more vigilant in securing credit to farmers and cautioned them against the use of pesticides, suicides might not have taken place on such a scale, he said. Banks can, for instance, donate computers to village schools or help build tube wells, without hurting their efficiency.