2018: WILL GET BACK ALL BLACK MONEY DATA
All money is not black
Four years down the line after the Modi government's pre-poll rhetoric on black money, Union Minister Arun Jaitley is a much wiser man and has contended that all money stacked in Swiss banks need not be black money.
"To assume that all the deposits are per se tax evaded money,’’ is to start on a shaky presumption," he has asserted in his new black money analysis. He adds another rider as he warms up to his theme -- ‘‘assuming this information about the increase of Indian money in Swiss banking system is correct!’’
His explanation is that the "Indian money outside is of various categories."
"This includes money held by persons of Indian origin who now hold foreign passport, monies belonging to NRIs, as also monies belonging to resident Indians who have made legitimate investments abroad, including transfer of money under the liberalised remittance schemes."
"It is only monies kept by resident Indians outside these categories which become actionable," he said, noting that only these deposits are "per se illegal for which investigations are undertaken, arrests are made and criminal prosecutions are launched."
Jaitley further said Switzerland has amended its laws and entered into a treaty with India, under which the real time flow of information with regards to the Indians began in January 2019. So, any illegal depositor knows that it is a matter of months before his name becomes public and he will be subjected to the harsh penal provisions of the black money law in India, Jaitley argues.
He also stressed that Switzerland wants to get rid of the image that it is a tax haven and so it is no longer an ideal destination for tax evaders. Those who participate in a public discourse must understand these basic facts before expressing an opinion which may be ill-informed, Jaitley said.
Those who participate in a public discourse must understand these basic facts before expressing an opinion which may be ill-informed. To assume that all the deposits are per se tax evaded money is to start on a shaky presumption – Arun Jaitley
INTERNAL BLACK MONEY: Jaitley then switches over to the multi-pronged strategy adopted by the government to flush out black money within the country that included demonetisation and use of technology to detect those not paying the income tax at all.