New Delhi: With the opposition planning to
raise the black money issue in Parliament next week, Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursady briefed Congress MPs on
different aspects of the matter and steps taken by the
government to curb the menace.
In a 45-minute meeting of the Congress Parliamentary
Party (CPP), Mukherjee also apprised the members of various
international frameworks to access banking information.
"Mukherjee briefed us about the steps being taken by
the government to deal with the issue," a Congress member
said.
To members' queries on the US getting access to banking
information from Switzerland, Mukherjee told them that India
also had got access to such information from other countries.
He also told Congress members that the drive against
black money would show results over the next five years.
Mukherjee said India was playing an important role at the
international fora in highlighting the importance of exchange
of banking information and sharing of past data.
Government has adopted a five-pronged strategy including
negotiation and re-negotiation of its double taxation
avoidance agreements with different countries.
The strategy includes joining the global campaign against
black money and creation of a legislative and institutional
framework to deal with illicit money.
The government was also focusing on providing better
taxpayer services, a reduction in the cost of compliance and
focused enforcement in the case of high net worth individuals.
The progressive personal income tax policy has resulted
in a ten-fold increase in revenue collections, which went up
from USD 8.62 billion in 1996-97 to USD 87 billion in 2010-11,
Mukherjee told the members.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 08, 2011, 14:05