How Can Veda Pandits Safely Formalize Their Cash Earnings from Rituals?

Formalizing Income for Veda Pandits

There are many Veda pandits who are not formal employees in any temple associations like Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams. They often perform rituals such as marriages, homas, housewarming ceremonies, and more. The income from these rituals is typically received as cash payments, which is a true and honest earning. Additionally, people often offer gifts to pandits as a part of their sentiments.

In the long run, all this cash can accumulate if saved. I would like to know how these individuals can be made aware of how this hard-earned income can be formalized. What are the options available to deposit this cash in banks under a reasonable source head?

Regards, Bala

In the year 2016, the question of cash management by temple priests is out of place. Priests can very well open a bank account and start depositing the cash that they receive from their profession. Let's consider the case of notaries. Throughout India, notaries also earn by accepting cash from their clients. However, does this imply that they hide the cash beneath their bed or keep it in a wardrobe safe? Certainly not! They deposit their earnings into their savings bank accounts. Similarly, priests can also follow suit.

During ceremonies, priests may accept just Re 1 as a token. The rest of the amount can be transferred to their accounts through NEFT. This approach will help in reducing cash transactions.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Thanks a lot, Dinesh. Yes, I very much agree that everyone will have bank accounts and deposit the money. But my question is, what is the source they could show?

Income Source for Notaries and Priests

Notaries will have official proof of their legal practices. Hence, their income source would be clients, which I understand. But for priests, if they are home-trained, for example, by a guru, and don't have a degree from an official institution, what is the case for proving their income source? As per my knowledge, not everyone obtains a degree from Vedic universities! I am confused because income from an unknown source is accounted for as black money.

Registration and Proof of Profession

So, my query is, should these people be registered anywhere to provide proof that they belong to the profession of priesthood and have income from various sources? This is important as they might sometimes receive high payments.

Additional Income for Temple Employees

I also have another query: if a person is an employee of any temple board, his income would be accounted for. In his free time, he could perform rituals like marriages, which would be additional income. In this case, on what account head should this income be deposited to formally pay the tax if eligible?

Thanks in advance!

Whatever may be the source of income, as long as the income tax return is filed, everything is fine. All that matters is that no citizen should own assets disproportionate to his or her income. Secondly, I doubt whether the income of Pandits will exceed Rs 10 Lakh. If it exceeds, then they will have to register for the Service Tax and start filing the return every month.

In your second post, you have written, "But priests, if they are home trained, say as from a guru, and do not have a degree from an official front." Again, this is a mistaken view. The Income Tax department accepts taxes from everybody, whether they are literate or illiterate, have formal qualifications or not, or are men or women, etc.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Dear Dinesh,

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Almost all my doubts have been clarified. I appreciate your time and effort.

Regards,
Bala