The refers to the report, “ >We’re writing to the Swiss for black money list: Jaitley ” (June 24). The government must take steps to ensure that it has a credible list of Indians holding black money in Swiss banks. The offenders must pay a stiff fine to prove the notion of equality. Why should only the common man bear crippling taxes while those who have power park their wealth abroad and escape?
Vaibhav Kumar,
New Delhi
The list must be made public in Parliament and the “lost” money retrieved. The next step should be to rein in tax-haven companies.
P.K. Varadarajan,
Chennai
It is premature to rejoice over the prospect. There are bound to be legal and other challenges that will have to be met before the names are revealed. There are many banks and complex money trails involved, and those who have deposited their money will do everything possible to safeguard their ill-gotten wealth. The episode shows that it is more important to unearth and prevent the very source of black-money generation. Ingenious methods such as under-invoicing, and benami and fictitious dealings will have to be curbed. It is important to unearth the parallel economy. Measures like e-governance which can make financial deals transparent should be thought of.
D.B.N. Murthy,
Bangalore
Are there no FEMA provisions that make it illegal to park money in banks abroad without RBI sanction? Why are these cases being made out to be simple instances of black money seizure/IT evasion? Is it because bigwigs are involved that there is soft-pedalling?
Ranjit Abraham,
Chennai