Report Uncovers True Scope of India’s ’Black Money’

By Chandrahas Choudhury May 24, 2012

It would appear from India's unnaturally low taxpayer base, widespread anecdotal evidence oftax evasion, and lack of procedural clarity and prosecutorial energy on many aspects of tax collection that the country's Ministry of Finance, the Department of Revenue, and the Central Board of Direct Taxes are incapable of working cohesively.

Nonetheless, these bodies spoke in one voice last week through a "white paper" on the problem of black money in India that was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who said in a prefatory note:

In the past year the public discourse on the issue of corruption and black money has come in the forefront with the active participation of the civil society and our Parliamentary institutions. Two issues have been highlighted in this debate. First, several estimates have been floated, often without adequate factual basis on the magnitude of black money generated in the country and the unaccounted wealth stashed aboard. Secondly, a perception has been created that the Government’s response to address this issue has been piecemeal and inadequate. This document seeks to dispel some of the views around these two issues and place the various concerns in a perspective.