TMC MP writes to Fin Min to withdraw mandatory condition of filing ITR for Haj pilgrims

Trinamool Congress MP Sajda Ahmed has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting that mandatory condition that Haj pilgrims file income tax returns be withdrawn so that Muslims from all ecomic sections can perform pilgrim.

An Income-Tax rule, which makes furnishing of returns mandatory for foreign visits which cost over Rs 2 lakh, including pilgrims, has upset Haj pilgrims.

“ government of India has imposed a mandatory ITR filing for intended Haj pilgrims. This decision may be reformation of taxation system. On or hand this mandatory provision is full of difficulties for Haj pilgrims," Ahmed said.

"As you kw only 1.6 per cent of country’s population files ITR. Many people in country don't possess PAN cards... and Muslims are t out of those brackets,” she said.

MP furr said Haj is one of five obligatory pillars of Islam and every Muslim cutting across ecomic divide has a dream of discharging pilgrim.

“You may be aware that some poor people living under low-income line also perform Haj... I request you to pull back mandatory condition of filing ITR for Haj pilgrims and think about pausing GST for Haj services,” TMC MP, who is also a member of Parliamentary standing committee on energy, said in her letter. 

Im: Sajda Ahmed Twitter/File photo