Whitening black money not seasonal anymore: Debapriya
Coming down heavily on the government for this decision, Debapriya demanded that it differentiate between undeclared earnings and illegal earnings
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has criticised the government for making it a “continuous process” by extending the generosity of letting people whiten black money in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal year.
“If you [the government] legalise undeclared money earned through both legal and illegal ways, it will be contradictory to your election manifesto and the constitution”, said CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.
“It is time to make a difference between undeclared and illegal earnings.”
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“Black money and undeclared earnings are now becoming an issue. There is now no bar to injecting this kind of earnings in buying a flat or apartment,” he said.
“It is no longer a seasonal matter, it has rather become a continuous process,” the CPD distinguished fellow also said.
Debapriya was speaking at a briefing to the media on the proposed budget at a city hotel on Friday morning.
There will be no problem if anyone invests this money in special economic zones and hi-tech parks, he added.
Untaxed money can now be whitened after paying only 10 percent in income taxes and without disclosing its source if it is invested in manufacturing-oriented industries in economic zones, high-tech park and housing.
At present, after paying highest 30 percent income tax and 10 percent fine on the remainder of the amount, black money holders can enjoy the money whitening facility.
