Industry body Assocham on Friday suggested a six-month amnesty scheme to bring back black money stashed abroad.
Proposing a multi-pronged strategy to curb the menace of unaccounted money and get back to India a significant portion of black money stashed abroad, the chamber also suggested a 40 per cent tax on all money offered under the amnesty scheme.
An additional 10 per cent levy could be imposed on the total money brought back and then be parked in infrastructure bonds, it said.
“In all, as much as 50 per cent of funds brought back could be taken away by the Government. Out of this, 10 per cent can be returned to the declarant at the expiry of the tenure of infrastructure bonds,” said Ved Jain, Chairperson of National Council for Direct Taxes. Assocham, which on Friday released its recommendations to tackle the menace of unaccounted money in India, has put the estimate of black money stashed abroad at $2 trillion. The level of black money estimated is almost the same as India’s gross domestic product.
RK Handoo, who heads Assocham’s legal affairs committee, said the amnesty scheme has worked well for several countries in the recent past.
“As this effort has worked for other countries, it is feasible and will be a pragmatic step for India to launch an amnesty scheme,” he said.
Amnesty schemes He also felt that the assurance given by the Government to the Supreme Court in late nineties that no further amnesty schemes will be launched can always be modified.
“If the new Government takes a stand that an amnesty scheme should be offered, it can always go to the Supreme Court and seek its clearance,” Handoo said.
Assocham has also pitched for uniform stamp duty of 3 per cent on real estate transactions across the country.