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Budget black money proposal: It's not amnesty scheme, Jaitley on Rahul's Fair and Lovely jibe

Countering Opposition's criticism over the compliance window to get black money from abroad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said his government`s new black or untaxed money scheme announced in the Budget last week is not an amnesty scheme as it has a penalty.

 

Budget black money proposal: It's not amnesty scheme, Jaitley on Rahul's Fair and Lovely jibe

New Delhi: Countering Opposition's criticism over the compliance window to get black money from abroad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said his government`s new black or untaxed money scheme announced in the Budget last week is not an amnesty scheme as it has a penalty.

"We have told people if any part of your income has not been assessed; pay 30 percent tax on it and 50 percent penalty. It is not an amnesty scheme it has a penalty," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

"This is not an amnesty scheme. So when you make comments on government`s policies to get black money from abroad or compliance window and I would say, please check your track record," he described.

"We are fighting a global economic crisis. You have been in power for a longer period than us. We need a cooperation of all political parties," he added.

Jaitley further said that the biggest share of profit from oil price reduction was passed on to the consumers."The profit from import of oil prices after the reduction in prices was divided into three parts. The biggest share was passed on to the consumers, and I have accounts to prove it. A second share was passed on to the oil distribution companies, who have both public and private shareholders." he said.

Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Narendra Modi government for failing to fulfil his poll promise of bringing the black money from foreign countries, saying it has launched a `fair and lovely` scheme to convert black money into white.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said: "Nobody who has black money will be jailed under Modi`s fair and lovely scheme. All those who have black money can make it white under this scheme."

"Modi ji had promised that he will put people with black money behind bars, now they have come up with way to save those people. I was shocked to see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launching such scheme," Rahul Gandhi said.

Presenting the Budget 2016-17 in Parliament, the finance minister said he wanted to give an opportunity to earlier non-compliants to move to the category of compliants as he proposed a limited period compliance window for domestic tax payers to declare undisclosed income represented in any form of assets.One can clear up past transgression by paying tax at 30 percent, a surcharge at 7.5 percent, a penalty at 7.5 percent which is total of 45 percent of undisclosed income.