The Indian government had come out with a sort of amnesty scheme to encourage people who had stashed away black money abroad, to bring it back to India, and get saved from prosecution.
However, the scheme seems to have bombed. Only a measly Rs.37.70 Billion came back from 638 declarants. This is a drop in the ocean compared to the figures of Trillions of Rupees being expected.
India’s Economic Affairs Secy. Shaktikanta Das said “Black money compliance window: Those who did not declare have underestimated the power of information exchange. Will regret.”
Some blame the structure of the amnesty for it’s failure, having a penalty built into it, taking the total tax to 60 percent. This was unlike earlier schemes in the 1990s, like Kar Samadhan and Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, which only carried a flat tax rate. No questions asked. These proved highly successful, with businesspersons, politicians , bureaucrats, all taking advantage of them.
