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Origin of the term black money The term black money is of a recent origin which first came to be used around the year
2000. It is another variation of advance fee fraud and is also called a 'wash wash scam'.
The scam came to be known as black money scam was originally handled by swindlers or
conmen who fraudulently obtained money from their victims by exploiting their
confidence. They convinced their victims that a trunk-full of real money had been dyed
black to avoid detection by customs. The trunk actually contained bank-note sized papers
dyed black. They would somehow persuade their victim to pay for the chemicals to wash
the money with a promise to give him / her share from the proceeds. In this way, the
conmen duped their customers telling them that the chemical required to remove the
black dye was very costly and fraudulently obtained a good sum of money from the
gullible and innocent
Term black money as used in modern times In the modern world, the term black money is used for the money which is unaccounted
and no statutory taxes are paid to the authorities since it is kept within the country of
abroad hidden from the eyes of the authorities. This underground, unrecorded and
irregular hoarding of wealth in any form is what is said to be running a shadow economy
or a parallel economy in a country. Black money can also be termed as production of
goods and services whether done legally or illegally but which is not taken into account
for the official estimation of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because it is
neither detected by the authorities nor is declared by its creators. India's stands at the 10th
position as far as the richest people in the country are concerned. This list is created by
taking into account the amount of white money which is available for investment and
does not include personal assets whether movable or immovable. Just consider what will
India's position among the richest people in the world if the amount of black money is
also take into consideration while compiling this list of the wealthy persons in the world.
The paradox is that it is happening in a country where more than 50 per cent of the
population is living below the poverty line (BPL).
Corrupt practices indulged into by corrupt people at all levels There are several causes due to which the black money is created in a country. Black
money is created by the corrupt practices indulged in by politicians, bureaucrats and other
high and low level civil servants. They take huge or small bribes which are kept hidden as
they illegal sources of earning money. The transactions in black money do take place in
the market due to which the term parallel economy comes into existence. Only very
rarely these transactions are caught and most of the offenders of creation of black money
are never known to the government. The second important reason that these transactions
remain hidden is that both the offenders and the executors of law collude with each other
and become the sharers in black money. People in all walks of life from the rich business
tycoons, the high level politicians, the senior bureaucrats, high ranking officers of the
government, big contractors to the low level government servants including class IV
employees are involved in this phenomenon of black money creation. Recently a racket
of fake certificates of OBCs and SCs has been found for admission into Delhi University.
It is reported that Rs.3 Rs.5 lakh were paid to obtain these bribe certificates.
Complex tax structure and corrupt tax officials Adding fuel to the fire, is the country's complex tax structure and corrupt tax officials
which is the cause of creation of black money. The honest and sincere people who may
otherwise be willing to pay taxes shy away from paying them before the complex
procedures, forms and returns involved in the payment of taxes. Only a few sincere
government employees whose income is paid from the government estimates are made to
compulsorily pay the taxes. But the majority of the business community, traders,
professionals and all incomes which do not come within the organised sector are left to
the sincerity of the earners to disclose their wealth. Complicated and lengthy rules and
regulations which are even beyond the comprehension of the common earners stand in
the way of taxes to be paid by them. There are no incentives to the raise the morale of the
honest taxpayers. The honest taxpayer grumbles when he or she sees that how his or her
hard earned money is is swindled by the corrupt officials of the government. The funds
allotted by the government for developmental projects are drained half way by the
corrupt officials before they finally reach the beneficiaries.
Foreign banks especially the Swiss Banks which do not disclose the particulars of the
account holders have become a safe haven for the people who want to hide their income
without paying the taxes. There are different versions by different sources as to amount of
the black money stashed in Swiss Banks. As alleged by Baba Ramdev during his
agitations against black money, the amount of black money stashed in the Swiss banks
ranges between Rs.50- 75 lakh crores of rupees. Even if there is only half the truth in the
allegation, then also the money stashed in the Swiss banks is so high that it can make our
economy quite sound if this can be brought back to India and deposited in the
government treasury. According to one report the Swiss Banks have admitted that Indians
stand at the top in the list of the people who have deposited money in the Swiss banks.
The black money in Swiss banks became a hot debate in 2009 general elections when the
issue was raked up by the BJP prime ministerial candidate Mr L K Advani. He quoted
from Global Financial Integrity Study undertaken in 2006 which estimated Rs.43 Rs.51
lakh crores lost by developing countries over a period of five years due to illicit financial
outflows from these countries including India.
Lot of black money is transacted during election campaigns The election process of our country is also a big generator of black money. Election
campaigns run by the candidates for parliamentary or assembly elections or for any local
bodies generated crores and crores of black money during the period of election. A study
by the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring Indian Economics (CMIE) found in 2006
that each parliamentary poll generates between $10.19 billion and $11.33 billion of black
money. It will become a shocking and mind boggling figure and the black money so
created will run into several crores of rupees if we also include the elections to the
legislative assemblies of the states and union territories and the local bodies.
Black money laundering financial companies and chit funds Money laundering financial companies and chit funds are another source of creating
black money. Instances have come to notice that several financial companies had been
running and might still be running without paying any income tax paid for their
transactions which are not brought to the knowledge of the government. We know that
there are several lakhs of unauthorised chit funds which are running by individuals in the
colonies of the towns and cities and even in villages including certain government offices
and industrial complexes where the money is collected and circulated among small time
individual earners. The operation of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) had
become so uncontrolled that the government had to bring in a legislation on the NonBanking Financial Companies in 1997 and a separate Department of Non-Banking
Financial Companies was opened in all offices of the Reserve Bank of India in March
1997 to make these companies to follow the regulations laid down under the Act.
Consequently several hundreds of those NBFCs which could not comply with the rules
and regulations of the government went out of operation.
Unscrupulous charitable trusts and societies create black money Unscrupulous charitable trusts and societies including religious institutions manipulate
the funds of the institutions run and managed by them and create black money. A stark
example of this has come to light when crores of rupees in hard cash and several more
crores of rupees worth jewellery, diamonds and other valuables have been taken over
when the personal chambers of the late Satya Sai Baba were opened recently at
Puttaparthy in Andhra Pradesh. There are a lot of discussions going on in the matter
whether the money found at Satya Sai Baba's Ashram at Puttaparthy is accounted or
unaccounted money. Only sincere investigations undertaken by the government in this
matter can find out the exact truth. This is one example which has come to light and
many more are still likely to exist running this fraudulent business simply because such
institutions had been exempted to submit the reports of their income and expenditure. It is
feared that a lot of black money is being generated by the religious, social and
educational trusts throughout the length and breadth of the country.
Hawala business is a great source of black money transactions The transactions of cash made through the hawala route are also one of the greatest
sources of creation and use of black money. Several hawala rackets were busted by the
police on many occasions but the hawala operations are still going on. Transactions
through hawala route are thought to be the south Asia's biggest money transactions
system. The hawala transactions are common across our national and international
borders where money changes hands through non-banking channels and thus goes
unrecorded and becomes black money. The individuals running hawala rackets have
developed their own codes to transact this illegal business. Such tax evading scams have
been found several times especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat, two of India's rich states.
Daily hawala transactions are reported to be running transacting in foreign exchange thus
robbing the government of the taxes which should otherwise have gone to the
government' treasury.
Investments in property, jewellery, diamonds, costly and rare paintings, luxury cars, rare
pieces of art etc. are some of the other sources where black money is transacted. It was
reported sometime back that when the officials raided a few builders in Mumbai a few
years back, it was revealed that the chartered accountants had advised their clients to hide
their black money in rare art collections. It was found that a businessman had in invested
$4,50,000 in a painting. The authorities found that builders had invested over a crore of
rupees of their undeclared income in paintings bought from local art galleries of Mumbai.
Investment of unaccounted income is done at a large scale in gold and diamond jewellery.
It is pertinent to note that India is one of the largest consumers of gold. Stock market is
another channel to invest black money. One can earn big profits after one pays a small
amount of capital gains tax @ 10%. Past cases of stock scams have shown that brokers,
banks, industrial houses have all colluded to trigger the stock markets. A few years back a
woman from Gujarat named Roopal ben Panchal reportedly opened 10,669 fake
accounts. In a circular dated December 2, 2005 the Reserve Bank of India had alerted the
banks with regarding to the black-money laundering activities going on and wanted them
to have watch on any suspicious banking activity. But what when the banks themselves
start colluding with the stock brokers to effect the prices in the stock market.
Donations to educational institutions transacted in black money The heavy donations paid for admissions in institutions of higher learning and even
large corporate schools and colleges are another big source of creation and circulating
black money. Are these donations received and paid by cheques? Are the proper receipts
issued for the transactions? Are the transactions written in the official accounts of the
institutions as they are done? The answer to all these questions is perhaps is a big 'No'.
This is not done because many of these private institutions are run by the bureaucrats,
politicians and industrial houses that are either do it in collusion with the law enforcing
authorities or bribe them the black money they create. Black money transactions take
place in the setting and leaking of questions papers and help rendered in examination
centres to get certain students pass through unfair means or to get some of them the top
ranks in the examination. This not only involves black money transactions but is also
making the mockery of our educational system and examinations.
Issue of licences, contracts to Indian and foreign companies Large industrial houses, big contractors, bureaucrats and politicians all collude with
each other in very heavy transactions and underhand dealings are indulged when issuing
licences and entering into contracts even with the foreign firms. The agents are brokers
are involved in the transactions on heavy fees. All these transactions among these people
are not routed through normal banking channels. The great scams like the Bofors, 2 G
Scam, the Commonwealth Games Scam, Adarash Society Scam, etc have already come
to the light of the public. Many such scams may be lying hidden and might not be
brought out at all. There have been cashes where hard cash had been discovered in the
possessions of politicians like Sukhram and others.
The Mauritius Route to use black money Taking advantages of loopholes in the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC)
concluded two decades ago, certain people claiming themselves to be the Mauritian
residents set up paper companies in Mauritius. These companies then masqueraded at
Mauritian companies. These companies then invested in India. Thus they avoided paying
taxes in India amounting to crores of rupees under the cover of double taxation avoidance
agreement between India and Mauritius.
Black money effects real capita income and national income of country
Since the black money circulating in the country is not recorded in the government's
books of accounts, the real per capita income of the people and the national income of the
country are shown as low. If all the black money circulating in the economy is flowed
back into the national economy of the country, there will a substantial rise in the real
incomes of the people and the national income of the country. For example, although the
incomes earned by the immigrant labour of our country help to improve the standard of
living of the people earning them, yet they don't get added into the tax net of the country
if transacted through hawala. So they cannot be taken into account in computing the
national income and per capita income of the country.
Black money causes difficulty in the formation of monetary and fiscal policy
Since the government cannot take into account the black money in circulation in the
economy while forming its monetary and fiscal policies, the policies so formed by the
government cannot be realistic. It is difficult to form these policies in the absence of the
exact calculation of the black money and without bringing it in the accounting procedures
of the government.
01 July 1997. The then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that the VDIS collections
amounted to collection about Rs.8,000 crores from about two lakh declarents when the
scheme closed down on December 31, 1997. The government may once again announce
such a scheme with proper guidelines to enable the people hiding their black money to
declare the scheme. The government at the same must show its political will to enact a
bill with stringent punishments against the people who were found with undisclosed
income after certain specified date.
The courts in India should give due importance to the cases involving black money and
must give the severest of the punishments to the persons involved in the cases. The
Supreme Court of India is doing a commendable job in this respect. The Supreme Court
asked the government in January 2011 as to why the names of those have stashed money
in the Liechtenstein Bank have not been disclosed. In April 2011, Hasan Ali Khan was
arrested on charges of stashing over Rs.36,000 crores in foreign banks. This is one
instance where a person has been arrested for stashing black money in the foreign banks,
but there may be many more against which the government can take action only with a
strong political will and conviction. Baba Ramdev had even gone to the extent of
suggesting that black money offender should be treated as traitors of the country and
should be given the severest of the punishments.
exemptions. No return needs to be filed by any person if the income is below Rs. 5 lakhs.
Similar tax reforms should be made in the corporate direct tax and all other indirect taxes.
Severe punishment should be mooted out to the tax personnel who are found to be
involved in the corrupt practices including the persons who are found to have paid bribes
to the tax officials to avoid taxes. These should include tax consultants and chartered
accountants who guide the tax payers with tips to avoid tax taking advantage of loopholes
in the tax laws.
Use of electronic media and banks for money transfers Maximum use of electronic media should be made for money transfers. Most of the
money transactions should be encouraged to be made through the banking channels.
Limitation should be laid down for cash transactions in any deal. Use of PAN and identity
card should be made mandatory for all transactions amounting huge amounts. There
should be a powerful Income Tax and Vigilance department. People should be
continuously made aware of the benefits of paying taxes.
People should be made aware of the evil of black money on a continual basis
People should be made aware of the consequences of black money. The recent
movements run by certain reputed personalities like Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare
whether successful or not has brought about a social revolution in the society to make the
people aware of this great evil. It has alerted the government at all levels to take
cognisance of the matter and the government is said to have constituted a high level
committee to go into this aspect.
Conclusion
It may be pointed out that many more measures be taken which might have been left out
in writing this article. There are many genius and intelligent persons in our country
including economists of eminence who can suggest measures to the government to do
away with the menace of black money afflicting our country. Conversion of black money
into white money is only a short term measure, but it is the preventive measures which
can root out this evil permanently. The most important aspect of nationality and love for
once nation in all aspects must be taught to our children from their basic educational
system. It should start from their earlier school education because whatever the child
learns in his / her formative years is carried forward towards the later stages in his or her
life.