Pranab Mukherjee tables white paper on black money in LS

The government on Monday tabled the much-awaited White Paper on black money in Parliament which did not disclose any name but made a strong case for setting up Lokpal and Lokayuktas to deal with the menace.

The White Paper, which was tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, also did not provide government's estimate of black money, within and outside the country, though it quoted various estimates of other agencies on the issue.

The 97-page document, however, pitched for fast-track courts to expeditiously deal with financial offences and deterrent punishment for offenders.

It has also suggested tax incentives for encouraging use of debit and credit cards as these leave audit trails.

On the possibility of any tax immunity scheme, especially gold deposit scheme, to deal with black money, it said, "The issue of complete tax immunity needs to be examined in the light of other policy objectives."

The document seeks to dispel the impression that government was not doing enough to deal with black money and talks about various policy options and strategies it has been pursuing to address the issue of corruption in public life.

Referring to the issue of institutions like Lokpal and Lokayuktas, the Paper said, "(they) need to be put in place at the earliest, in the Centre and the states respectively, to expedite investigations into cases of corruption and bring the guilty to justice."

The government has not been able to push through the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, despite pressure from the civil society. The Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha.

The White Paper has also made a case for tracking bullion and jewellery transactions, encouraging payment through debit and credit cards and prevent misuse of "off market" and "dabba trading" on equities and commodities market.

It said that in order to ensure transparent and efficient allocation of natural and man-made resources, including mines, land and spectrum, "oversight in the form of comprehensive regulations, independent regulator, and appointment of ombudsmen for grievance redressal...can be considered as a remedy."

The introduction of Goods and Services Tax, it added, would be a major step in integrating the efforts of different agencies dealing with black money.

Referring to the misuse of corporate structure, the Paper said, "The Vodafone tax case provides an instance of the misuse of corporate structure for avoiding the payment of taxes."

In this case, it said, the Hutchison Group had made investments in India from 1992 to 2006 through a number of subsidiaries having 'separate corporate personality' but which were essentially post box companies based in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Mauritius.

The Hutchison Group sold its entire business operation in India in February 2007 to the Vodafone Group for a total consideration of USD 11.2 billion and the same was effected through transfer of a solitary share of a Cayman Islands company.

When the tax authorities requested the accounts of the said company, it said, "The answer given was that as per Cayman Islands law, the company was not required to prepare its accounts."

With increasing realisation about the harmful effect of ownership being concealed behind complicated corporate ownership structure, such structure is coming under scrutiny.

"...it is expected that efforts taken by India in this regard as also global pressure will provide a check on these tendencies," it said.

Pointing out that the prosecution mechanism in the Income Tax Department needs to be strengthened and direct tax laws and procedures streamlined, the Paper made a case of fast track courts and deterrent punishment for offenders.

"All financial offences should be tried through fast-track special courts...Minimum punishments should also be prescribed for economic offences for greater deterrence. Enhanced punishment, at par with other serious economic offences, is likely to provide more effective deterrence against corruption," it said.

The Paper said that Joint Task Force (JTF) approach needs to be adopted for dealing with serious cases of corruption, tax frauds, terror financing, money-laundering, banking/ financial frauds and illegal betting/lottery.

"The JTF in such cases could consist of all the concerned agencies led by the agency connected with the main infraction of the law," it suggested.

It called for special efforts to curb activities like counterfeiting currency, drug trade and terrorism, which leads to significant generation of black money.

On repatriation of black money stashed abroad, the Paper said the Indian government has been taking steps to recover the illegal money.

"The Government will need to expand the legal framework of DTAAs and TIEAs as in last few years it has been a very useful source of information," it said.

It said the government will also need to sustain its efforts to obtain such information and take strict follow-up action against tax evaders.

Referring to the UK-Switzerland treaty for recovery of tax without disclosure of names of offenders, the Paper said India will have to take a decision whether such agreements are in line with its national objective of obtaining tax revenue without knowing the identity of defaulting Indian residents.