The new black money law is creating panic and confusion among taxpayers, industry body Assocham said on Tuesday, while asking the government to hold wider consultations and bring necessary changes to
The new black money law is creating panic and confusion among taxpayers, industry body Assocham said on Tuesday, while asking the government to hold wider consultations and bring necessary changes to this legislation.
“Based on a wide range of consultations with a cross section of the taxpayers, we found that there is so much of confusion and in some cases, even panic, for being on the wrong side of this law by non-compliance which may result from inadvertent steps,” it added.
The chamber said while the finance ministry has launched an exercise of educating on the law through interactive sessions, it has not been able to create the kind of comfort level. “There is a feeling that immediately after the compliance window comes to an end after September, the tax personnel could be on the prowl. This is certainly not giving stress free business environment,” it stated.
Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said, “There is so much of interface between Indian business persons, professionals, travellers and non-resident Indians with the rest of the world that one could be caught on the wrong side of the law by some silly mistakes on the part of the taxpayers. There is no assurance that the tax authorities would not take a serious view of this silly mistake and not launch a criminal proceeding. That is really worrying. If need be, let there be amendments in the law based on more consultations”.
The chamber said that while the SC-appointed SIT has to be respected and the menace of black money must be eradicated, the ordinary business transactions should not become difficult to administer. It stressed that the rules of the law must clearly spell out that honest persons will not be disturbed.
