Inquiry against 50 IRS officers over suggesting tax hike for the rich: Report

The report, titled ‘Fiscal Options and Response to COVID-19 Epidemic’ (FORCE), was released on April 25 by the IRS' official Twitter handle.

Moneycontrol News

April 27, 2020 / 12:48 PM IST

The government has initiated an inquiry against the 50 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers who suggested a tax-hike for the rich to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a report by The Times of India.

The CBDT has issued an official statement, as seen by the publication.

"It is unequivocally stated that CBDT never asked the IRS association or these officers to prepare such a report. No permission was sought by the officers before going public with their personal views and suggestions on official matters, which is a violation of extant conduct rules. Necessary inquiry is being initiated in this matter," the CBDT said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

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COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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