Secret To Win In ‘CA Vs. ITO

Negotiation is the key to getting what you want, whether in the Income Tax Office or anywhere else.

Luckily there's a science to it, as established by countless psychological studies.

Here are some of the best scientific insights by Eric Barker combined with my real life true practical stories (based on my three decades of sitting on the other side of the table):-

The fact is that good cop, bad cop is an effective tool for compliance because using it -- often in very subtle ways -- does apparently enhance the impact of both the carrots and the sticks. In fact, this qualitative study is bolstered by experiments on negotiation teams by researchers Susan Brodt and Marla Tuchinsky showing that -- under most situations -- having both a good cop and a bad cop on a negotiation team is a winning strategy.

BUT there was also a twist we did not address in our research, and in fact, would have been tough to do as we were studying people in "the wilds" of organizational life. Their research shows that starting with a good cop and then using a bad cop was not effective, that the method only was effective for negotiating teams when the bad cop went first and the good cop followed. So, this may mean it really should be called "The Bad Cop, Good Cop Technique."

How to apply this strategy in the Income Tax Office?

Usually ‘cop’ means ‘a police officer’ not ‘Certified Outsourcing Professional’ here ‘bad cop’ is used for a “tough-CA” and ‘good cop’ for “soft-polite-CA” !

This is a true tax-tale. Some years ago, I was on a holiday, down beautiful south. The stay there was for 5 days. My lady wife wanted to wake up late as she was on a dream vacation. I woke up as usual at 5:30 am, skimmed through the newspaper, got dressed, had breakfast, but still it was only 8:30! Turning the pages of my official diary I came to the address of the local Income Tax Office. It was on the same street as my hotel. Having nothing better to do, on the spur of the moment, I decided to go there.

It was a typical small office with one ACIT and two ITOs. I talked to the peon without revealing my identity. By the way, If you want to know something about an officer, just strike a conversation with a peon and he will tell you everything there is  to know about everybody. That’s the beauty of India. There are no secrets, everything is shared (except maybe Munnabhai’s langoat!).  

The ACIT was a young officer recently posted there, after training at Nagpur. He was most courteous, offered me tea, I started discussing with him his experience in the field. Suddenly, an old person charged in and demanded why the officer was not attending to ofical tax-hearings and why the taxpayers and their reps were kept waiting out!! The young officer was taken aback and offered his profound apologies. Not to be stopped the old man kept on & on, grumbling away, “why written queries were not sent? Why two weeks advance notice for hearing not given, etc etc”. With him was another middle-aged person, with a pleasing face who kept repeating, “Sir, my senior partner is 43 years in practice cannot stand for long. Sorry Sir, he came just to show his respect for you (new ACIT). He will go and I will continue with hearing!” The old man was very aggressive and the middle-aged CA submissive, pleasant, smiling, polished. Both well dressed, obviously successful! Apparently, they waited out for 10 minutes before charging in.

To save the young officer, I gave my introduction, said sorry as the situation happened due to my unscheduled visit & told the ACIT I will meet him again before I go back. The senior CA exited with me and was all smiles outside! I started walking towards my hotel but he stopped me, insisting he will drop me in his car! I refused saying I would not be obliged by a discourteous person. But he continued smiling & said “Sir, that was just tax-practice, if I am not tough faced, how my firm will get good treatment? Besides my partner is there to ensure with every courteous behavior that my clients get an ‘addition’ free assessment!”