Letters: Unearthing black money

With reference to "The black money haul" (October 3), the pragmatic action of the government has paved the way for unearthing huge sums of black money. However, the government must remain aggressive in its stance against evaders, and bring more people under the tax net.

The taxation structure and functioning of the department need thorough changes for a more aggressive and taxpayer-friendly system to detect evasion and underpayment of tax. The tax department is collating lots of data relating to financial transactions, yet tax evasion and growth of black money is rampant.

Despite the availability of various modes of payment and remittance, cash transactions remain dominant. The government, the Reserve Bank of India and the banking sector have to look for more measures to bring down the use of currency for payments further. Demand drafts and cheques have to be extensively encouraged. Across India, large investments are being made in real estate.

A major chunk of this is cash. Probing the sources of these investments will yield desired results. Money is spent lavishly on events and celebrations, unnoticed by the tax department. Systems need to be strengthened to ascertain the source of such expenses to prevent the use of unaccounted-for money. Raising awareness will make people compliant and go a long way in preventing tax evasion.

VSK Pillai, Kottayam

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