Wish you all a happy Diwali and prosperous New Year. This year’s Diwali was celebrated without the work pressure. Thanks to the concerned authorities for extending the time limit for filing returns by 15 days on the last day. The work pressure causes considerable stress on the professionals especially due to their obligation not only to the clients but also to the State and the society. Thus, this stress is more severe than the stress caused to others due to overwork. The recharging of depleted sources of energies is possible only through spiritual means i.e., prayers, meditation etc. The Goddess Lakshmi showers her blessing on those who are calm and study in their professional life.

As per Mahatma Gandhi profession is more honourable than business as for a professional profit is not a motive. He has to cater to the needs of the society and its upliftment. The profession by its inherent nature is service-oriented. Thus, we professionals should never forget our obligation towards our country and the society. I am putting down these words in black and white to remind myself and all my professional brothers and sisters about our obligation towards the profession in particular and the society in general. I view an individual professional as a lamp and profession as innumerable lamps lit on a Diwali day which have vowed to fight darkness.

The consistent talk of simplification of the tax laws has lost its direction. The only goal seems to be to reduce the interference of the professionals. I don’t mind paying this cost also if really the object of ‘simplification of tax laws’ is achieved. The approach of the tax gatherers is becoming day by day more and more bureaucratic which causes harassment to the assessee. I call upon all professionals to stand up to this bureaucratic approach of the tax gatherers. It should be understood by all concerned that the role of profession and a professional is not carved out by the department. The role of the professionals is carved out by the society and the field carved out by the lawyers is to see to it that justice prevails in all walks of social life and the accountancy profession is to bring accountability in all fields of the society.

The accountancy profession plays the vital role of making everybody accountable for their deeds and misdeeds in the society. Unfortunately, in our country the word ‘accountability’ is found only in dictionaries. Whether it is bureaucracy or administration there is total lack of accountability. The system of tax collection has totally forgotten that they are accountable to the public. The entire administration suffers from bureaucratic approach. Correspondingly, the public also has a duty to see to it that the politicians and administrators are made accountable. Unfortunately, the public is not at all conscious of its duty. Here, the profession of accountancy comes into picture. The profession of accountancy has to make the politicians and administrators accountable for all the actions. At the cost of repetition, I say that the role of accountants is not confined only to calculate the tax liability of their clients. It is spread over to all the fields of administration for making the administration and the Government accountable to the public.

I strongly recommend that there should be compulsory public audit of revenue collected and disbursed as cess for various purposes. The Government is answerable to the public whether the cess collected for the stated object has been spent on the same or not. We should use the Right to Information Act in an appropriate manner to collect the details and ask the Government to answer our queries. We professionals should use the Right to Information Act as a tool to gather information and fight injustice.

This issue is second part of the series on Partnership Firms. The earlier issue was devoted to the various aspects of partnership under general law. The present issue is dedicated to the tax angle of the same. All the authors are eminent and well experienced. The articles shall enrich the readers with knowledge. I am thankful for the assistance given by Mr. Praveen Veera, Solicitor, in designing and executing the two issues. I am also thankful to all the authors for sparing their valuable time to contribute these articles.