Don’t fish for information
The hype over the amount of money kept abroad seems to suggest that it will be child’s play for the Union Government to lay its hands on the funds provided, of course, that it is willing to act. The Swiss authorities have indicated that they may be willing to share information on particular accounts if concrete leads are provided.A list of suspects prepared on the basis of perceptions alone will not do.
Yet tax evasion is a threat to public finance. Technology, especially the super efficient ways of transferring money in seconds across the globe, has complicated the picture and made individual governments’ tasks that much more difficult.
A recent deal between the U.S. and Switzerland allows American authorities access to 4,450 secret accounts maintained by Americans in the Swiss banking giant UBS.
This is considered path breaking: other centres and even Switzerland may be more willing to share information. But it must be remembered that the outcome in the U.S. came after UBS was caught offering to help Americans hide their money. The bank agreed to pay $780 million fine and restitution. The message for India is to concentrate on specifics and join international efforts at reducing the role of tax havens.
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