In Black and White
The Centre’s move to mop up(निपटाना ) black money from the economy
by giving taxpayers amnesty(अपराध शमा ) to declare undisclosed past income by
paying tax on it at an effective, slightly high rate of 45 per cent has
yielded(उत्पन करना ) a surprisingly positive dividend. The four-month window granted
for evaders to come clean opened sluggishly(ढिल्ला ), but eventually over 64,200
assessees disclosed undeclared assets worth at least Rs.65,250 crore.
Stern warnings from the Prime Minister himself about tough action and
possible jail terms for those who failed to declare their ‘cartloads’ of
black money may have added punch to the Finance Ministry’s pitch. The
haul(प्राप्त बस्तु ) is considerably higher than the Rs.4,164 crore in assets and black
money held abroad disclosed under a similar arrangement with a higher
tax rate in 2015. This time, the tax department rightly focussed on
demystifying(रहस्मय हटाना ) and propagating the scheme, so potential beneficiaries were
reassured that they would not be persecuted. The almost Rs.30,000 crore
in taxes being raked in provides a cushion for the Centre on the fiscal
deficit management front since it hadn’t set any explicit revenue
expectations from the scheme.
The final stocktaking(स्टॉक पड़ताल ) is still on, so the record collections under this scheme, vis-à-vis similar
endeavours(प्रयास ) in the past, could rise further. The Centre, however, must
not consider this the end of its campaign on black money. To put things
in context, the average undisclosed income per taxpayer under the scheme
stands at Rs.1.01 crore; and though the disclosures are nearly double
those in the last income amnesty scheme (around Rs.33,700 crore), nearly
two decades have passed since then, making comparisons misleading. The
tax department is aware that Rs.65,250 crore is just the tip of the
iceberg — it had sent seven lakh letters to suspected evaders based on
information on about 90 lakh high-value transactions that took place
without PAN card details. The tax department must crack down on such
evaders and spruce(सजाना ) up its data-mining methods to expand the country’s
shallow tax base. While the department’s efforts have revealed
undisclosed income of over Rs.58,000 crore in the last two and half
years, and more is being pursued from tax havens where Indian holdings
have come to light, all of this is akin to treating the symptoms without
addressing the root cause. If the Centre is serious about attacking
India’s thriving black economy, it needs to be bold and, for starters,
make electoral funding transparent, curb(नियंत्रण ) the misuse by the wealthy of
tax-free income sops for farmers, and encourage cashless transactions.
1)Mop up meaning is an concluding action ,finish a task completely.
2)Amnesty meaning pardon ,forgiveness, reprieve.
3)Yielded meaning is produce,provide,give/supply.
4)Sluggish meaning is lethargic, dull, slow moving, slack.
5)Haul meaning is something obtained or moved.
6)Demystifying meaning is make less mysterious or remove the mystery from.
7)Stocktaking meaning is assessment about values.
8)Endeavour meaning is attempt to achieve something,effort,aim
9)Spruce meaning is stylish ,neat, clean, dainty.
10)Curb meaning is control,rein,restrict.
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