The months of August and September have brought both good as well as bad news for the Income Tax Department. August started poorly. VG Siddhartha’s suicide note suggested that the harassment that he faced from the department was one of the reasons for breaking his will to live. The department was quick to respond; officers who dealt with his case were only doing their duty when they attached the shares of Coffee Day Enterprises, the holding company of Café Coffee Day, the enormously successful café chain he founded. The mood in the industry lightened perceptibly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day address to the nation, signalled a policy shift by the government: Wealth creators, he pointed out, deserve our respect and encouragement. “A mindset change is needed,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated to tax officers a few days later.