There is a lot of talk these days about Black Money. There
is a lot of talk about how Black Money is plaguing our economy and affecting
it. In fact, there was an article about Black Money a couple of weeks ago in
this blog. The article covered the basics of what Black Money is and also about
the hottest topic for news these days – India’s attempt at recovering its Black
Money from overseas Tax Havens. Did you know that easily 50% or more of India’s
black money is actually concealed within our borders where the Government can
easily dig it up?
The purpose of this article is to make you understand how
you “As a Responsible Citizen” can help eliminate this menace. In this article,
we are going to cover a few – TO DO Actions on our part that can help move
India forward towards an economy where Black Money isn’t as big a deal as it is
now…
TO DO No. 1: Always Ask for a Bill or Receipt
Yes, the simple and most effective step from our side to
eliminate black money is to “Ask for the Bill”
Most Businesses in India do not offer a Bill or Receipt to
its customers. They do this because, by issuing a bill, they are actually
acknowledging the “Income” and would have to pay “Income Tax” on this income.
In order to motivate “You and Me” the Customer to accept the goods or services
without the bill, they usually offer us a small discount. Blinded by our urge
to save a couple of quick bucks, we don’t insist on the bill and help the
shopkeeper conceal his income and increase his stash of “Black Money”.
You may ask me – Will my asking for a bill make a difference?
Yes of course. Think of this scenario. Lets say you buy
groceries for your house from a nearby shopkeeper and the bill is Rs. 1,430/-
The shopkeeper smiles and asks you to give him Rs. 1,400 with a 30 rupees
discount. You are happy with the discount and the shopkeeper gets “Cash” and does
not show this 1400 rupees you gave him as an income.
Lets say you asked for a “Bill”, the shopkeeper most likely
wont offer you that discount and will ask you for the full amount. But, he will
be forced to show this 1400 rupees as income and will end up paying taxes on
the profit he made. Yes, you paid an extra 30 rupees but you also made sure
that as a citizen you were responsible and did your Part to help the nation
digout all the black money.
TO DO No. 2: Try To Pay Using Your Credit/Debit Card
Are you thinking?
What if the shopkeeper gives me a fake receipt? In India it is so damn easy to get your hands on a bunch of make-a-do receipt booklets. So, just because I got a receipt doesn’t mean the shopkeeper is going to show the money as an income. In such a situation, am actually paying an extra 30 rupees (from the example above) and the black money continues to grow…
Yes, you got a point here. This is where the TO DO item No.
2 comes into the picture.
If you make your payment using a Credit or Debit Card, the
money actually changes hands through an intermediary – The Bank. The Bank will
credit the transaction amount into the shopkeepers bank account and at the end
of the year, the shopkeeper would have no other option but to show these
transactions as part of his income.
TO DO No. 3: Never Give a Bribe
Ok, am not taking any lines out of a Movie. A Bribe is an
unauthorized income for the person receiving it and by giving a bribe you are
actually fueling the black money menace. Even if you don’t want to do the
above 2 TO DO Items, at least try this. This will help our country move towards
a corruption free and a black money free economy.
TO DO No. 4: Ignore Nay Sayers
When you start behaving responsibly – as a citizen, there
may be many people who might confuse you with the following points:
a.
Anyways the Politicians and Govt. Officials are
going to eat our Tax money. Why pay taxes then?
b.
Just you being responsible isn’t going to change
a thing
c.
Nobody can change India
Country's like Singapore that can boast very low rates of
corruption were actually built on principles of “Self Discipline”. Responsible
Citizens are the fundamental pillars to any strong nation and by being
responsible we can have a chain reaction effect. By seeing us being
responsible, more and more of our friends and family members will join the
bandwagon and together we can help move towards a black money free economy…
The Direct Impact – Of our Actions:
As more and more customers ask for their bills, the income
that is actually included for tax purposes by businessmen goes up and their stash
of black money comes down gradually.
The Indirect Impact – Of our Actions:
Tax Authorities will all of a sudden see a huge spike in
income records for such people which will make them curious to dig-out more. A
Businessman who filed taxes for an income an income of say 15 lakhs this year
after showing an income of just 4 or 5 lakhs over the past 3 or 4 years
consistently will raise eyebrows. One authorities start digging, more and more
black money will come out…
Some Last Words:
You and I are salaried employees. Every single penny we earn
is taxed. But, in spite of this, our government doesn’t have enough money for
public welfare programs. If everyone in our country pays their taxes properly –
the government can actually reduce the tax slabs. Yes, a country like Singapore
is able to afford lower tax rates because, almost everyone pays taxes properly.
With everybody paying taxes, the government already has enough money and hence
gives back the benefit to its citizen by means of better facilities and lower
taxes.
Lets do our part towards the Nations Development and slow
but surely, we can bring about the change that we all dream about…
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