White Paper for fast-track courts to deal with black money

The White Paper on black money tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha favoured a strategic mix of four pillars that will include incentives for voluntary compliance, reforms in vulnerable sectors of economy, creating effective credible deterrence and supportive measures.

The 97-page report does not give out any names of black money holders or estimated of such funds either in the country or outside but refers to estimates made earlier by various domestic and foreign institutions.

Improving the reporting and monitoring systems to track bullion and jewellery transactions and simple reporting systems in real estate deals to facilitate the development of a nationwide database were also urgently proposed in reducing flow of black money.

Citing the Vodafone case as an instance of the misuse of corporate structure for avoiding the payment of taxes, the White Paper justified the recent amendment to the Income Tax Act to check avoidance of tax by routing investments through tax havens.

Referring to the demands for introduction of voluntary disclosure scheme for bringing back black money stashed abroad, the document said such a measure could be a one time option but they have been criticised for creating future expectations resulting in moral hazards. MORE