No amnesty scheme to unearth black money, says Centre

The government on Wednesday ruled out any amnesty scheme to unearth black money saying it discriminated against genuine tax payers.

“The experience shows when you bring in Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme, it discriminates against genuine taxpayers. Those of you who pay taxes are disincentivised. It may not be a conducive path for recovering more taxes,” Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said replying to some issues raised during the debate on Finance Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Winding up the debate in the Upper House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured investors that the government will have a relook on GAAR and resort to amendments if needed. “After the budget process is over, we will look into it whether it is that date or some other date and whether some amendments are required or not and only then we will be able to make a final call on that,” Jaitley said.

GAAR, a set of general rules aiming to check the tax avoidance, created concerns among investors after its introduction in 2012. 

Investors feared the law gave unbridled powers to tax authorities to check evasion of taxes. As of now, it has  to come into effect from April 1, 2015.

Jaitley also said that the government would take a view on the specific demands of debt-ridden states after receiving the report of the Finance Commission by the year-end. West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Punjab have demanded for special packages.

Allaying fears by some members about the drought-like situation, Jaitley said, the government was ready with a back-up plan in case there was a crop failure due to drought in some parts of the country.

“The situation is more optimistic, monsoons have picked up. There is no drought-like situation. In case there is some problem, a back-up plan is ready and it will be put into action if the situation demands,” he said.