Letters: Tracking the money trail

Apropos the report, "638 persons declare Rs 3,770 crore of black money under comliance window" (October 2), the government missed the bus when the results of its three-month tenured scheme enabling one-time "compliance-cum-amnesty" were finally out on October 1. It must have raised some eyebrows in the concerned official circles. It must have sent a clear message to the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership that is tackling the menace of black money (both domestic and externally stashed). It is not that easy as it was made out to be during the run up to the Lok Sabha elections and even after its coming to power at the centre last year. Interestingly, the vastly conflicting estimates of the gross volume of this much hated black money has probably made the task of the government more arduous and complex and the resultant recovery of some 'peanuts' could have created an awkward position for it. In all fairness, the government's latest 'recovery' story may have belied its own estimates by a huge margin.

India's fast dwindling tax-to-GDP ratio despite its frequent upward revision in VAT and hike in the rates of service tax to the current level of 14 per cent (apart from other upward looking revenue raising avenues) is a matter of serious concern. The concept of service tax, whose exempted list could now be counted on our fingers, is perhaps one of the most hated indirect tax provisions in the country today. Needless to say that the indicative curve of the nation's tax-to-GDP ratio must look to be somewhat vertically oriented. One must appreciate the vicious efforts of Central Board of Direct Taxes chief to suitably widen the tax base and the 360 degree profiling of all the possible tax evadors. The nation can't afford to totally lose sight of old ghosts simply because the outcome thereof has so far not been quite encouraging.

Kumar Gupt, Panchkula

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number