Fill up vacancies

With reference to the news report ‘Fin Min overhauls middle management structure in nationalised banks’, (October 22), while the move to provide more opportunities at the middle management level is most welcome one hopes steps will be taken to fill the vacancies at entry level too.

According to CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association, more than a lakh positions are lying vacant in banks. Many of the bank branches are reeling under staff shortage impacting customer service. Now that most banks are on a branch opening spree problems are bound to worsen. A scientific method needs to be evolved urgently to link staff deployment in branches to the real needs.

Manohar Alembath

Kannur (Kerala)

Cut TDS on interest

This pertains to the Editorial ‘Tax Truths’ (October 22). It is encouraging that our direct tax receipts are rising and are up 22 per cent this year alone. Personal income tax revenues have already overtaken corporation tax receipts, indicating greater compliance and convenience in filing tax returns.

Simultaneously, refunds to personal taxpayers, particularly seniors, who derive much of their income from interest on deposits, are increasing since they typically have an excess deduction of tax at source (TDS) against interest earned.

The new tax regime has further reduced the tax burden and, consequently, increased refunds.

Thus, there is a strong case for reducing the current TDS rate on interest to 7.5 per cent. This will also benefit revenue since the interest paid to taxpayers on refunds will come down drastically.

Kamal Laddha

Bengaluru

Taxation blues

This refers to the timely Editorial ‘Tax truths’ (October 22). The direct tax base should be further widened and one such plausible segment could be taxing the farming community beyond a certain income.

But, who will bell the cat? Tax avoidance is also an issue that needs to be tackled. The ball lies in the court of tax authorities which should make an effective use of AI (artificial intelligence) to plug all extant loopholes. Let the IT laws be applied on some ‘universal’ basis without any exceptions.

SK Gupta

New Delhi

Kharif crop hit

Apropos “Kharif paddy acreage up 65 lakh ha, finds a new digital crop survey” (October 22).

While the acreage has gone up, the worrying factor is the severity of NE monsoon that is affecting the harvest of various Kharif crops including plantation crop coffee, since its further processing at the farm stage is hampering its quality. How will the Agriculture Ministry rescue the farmers from such a threat?

Rajiv Magal

Halekere Village (Karnataka)