Maya questions need for demonetisation if Centre wanted to convert black money into white

After the Centre introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha that gives tax defaulters an opportunity to come clean by paying tax and penalties, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday said if the government had another voluntary income disclosure scheme, then they should not have pulled old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes out of circulation.

Mayawati told the media, "In a new Bill proposed by the Centre in the Lok Sabha that gives tax defaulters an opportunity to come clean by paying tax and penalties, in this regard, the only thing that my party would like to say is that if they had plans like these, then why did they decided to demonetize 500 and 1,000 rupee currency?"

"Why is 90 percent of the population of this country standing in queues outside ATMs? If they had plans of imposing tax on black money, which could further make their money white, then there was no need for the Centre to impose such a scheme like demonetisation," she added.

Day nine of the Winter Session of Parliament saw the Centre introducing the Income Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Bill on Monday.

The Bill provides for 'Taxation and Investment Regime for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016' (PMGKY).

The key feature of the proposed amendment to the Income-Tax Act is a proposal to impose 50 per cent tax on undeclared income that is voluntarily disclosed till December 30, following which 82.5 per cent (75 per cent tax and 10 per cent of such tax as penalty) could be levied on undeclared income detected by authorities. The tax changes are intended to supplement the demonetisation move targeted at curbing black money, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.