Arun Jaitley defends several changes to the amendments made in the Finance Bill.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and tried to allay fears of the Opposition relating to the several amendments made to the Finance Bill. The FM said that only 76 lakh people earn above Rs 5 lakh whereas 2 crore take international flights every year.
* Jaitley slammed Kapil Sibal for saying India is a tax compliant society. Jaitley said that the assumption is everything is done by cheque. He called the Opposition's hypothesis erroneous.
* Jaitley clarified the changes to Section 132 of the Income Tax Act. He said nobody can start searching anything without a satisfaction note. The source of information is protected to protect them. The amendment is to not hold back information in court. He says it is indeed a step against economic offences, which has been turned into a human rights issue.
* Jaitley denied that changes made to political funding were done to benefit the ruling party. He said there was scope for bipartisan debate. The FM said a bank will be notified for electoral bonds. Party will have one declared account. Total donations to a party will be known. This, he said, is good for small parties also since people will give without fear of consequences. More suggestions are welcome, he said. Jaitley said earlier there was restriction in constituency of donors. He said that the goal should be to expand the constituency of donors. Jaitley said the Congress should be with BJP to change the colour of money in elections.
* Jaitley explained to Chidambaram why challenge about tax raids could not be done in front of ITAT. Jaitley called it clarification legislation. Jaitley said ambiguity through which satisfaction note was available to assessee was being taken care of.
* FM explained that government should not be barred from checking if charitable organisations were truly doing charity. Jaitley said charitable organisations took land from government and also get exemptions. Entire value of an institution is based on exemptions received, he said.
* Jaitley said many regulators and tribunals had inadequate work. Government was merely trying to streamline it. Jaitley said judicial appointments will be made in consultation with judiciary.
* Jaitley said that for benefits, Aadhaar card was not compulsory. He said some of them had doubts about Aadhaar. Jaitley said that for tax evasion, the present bill asks either for Aadhaar number or for proof that one has applied. The FM asked why such technology should not be used to stop counterfeits.
* "If firewalls are broken and hacking takes place, it will take place anywhere. This is not a ground to not to use Aadhaar," Jaitley said.
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 "Arun Jaitley")
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