When rewarding, instead of penalising, the owners of undisclosed wealth or black money has been a normal phenomenon, finance adviser to the interim government Salehuddin Ahmed's assertion that henceforth generation of black money will be given no quarter is indeed music to the honest taxpayers' ears. Though every government since independence did show leniency towards unearned money and its holders, the just fallen regime, in effect, bent over backwards for allowing its whitening. For instance, the budget for the current FY 2024-25 provides that owners of ill-gotten wealth could legalise their earnings by paying 15 per cent tax, no question asked. Consider that even according to the Income Tax Act, 2023 introduced during the previous government, to legalise unearned wealth, its owner would be charged a 10 per cent fine over and above paying 25 per cent tax. Clearly, in the budget for the current financial year (FY25), as prepared by the ousted government, the financial criminals were given a free hand to continue with their unlawful practices, while the common income earners were actually punished for their honesty as they had to pay up to 25 per cent tax under the highest income slab.
Obviously, the legacy left by successive governments has been one of generosity towards dishonesty in financial matters. Against this backdrop, it is commendable that the incumbent finance adviser has been bold enough to challenge the prevailing culture that allows bribery, graft, kickbacks, outright embezzlement and plundering of public funds often with abuse of public office to go on with impunity. It is the political will that was lacking on the part of those in authority earlier to muck out the Augean stables of corruption and various other financial crimes accumulating over the decades at every layer of society and governance. Given that it was a revolution led by students with the backing of the entire nation that brought this interim government to power, it cannot be said that the incumbent government has any shortage of political agency or mandate to take up the humongous task of plugging the loopholes through which black money is created.
However, making a promise is one thing, but it is quite another to make good on it. In fact, the government will have to prepare a detailed plan of action or a road map to go ahead with its declared mission of cutting off the sources of ill-gotten wealth. True, it would be too much to expect that the deeply entrenched culture of tolerance of all types of irregularity and corruption that breeds black money could be brought to an end overnight. It would be nothing short of a prolonged cultural war that would be required to achieve such a lofty goal. However, what the interim government can do is to begin the war with the help of an army of workers having unassailable records of personal integrity and professional excellence to fulfil the mission that they would be tasked with.
Bringing the money already siphoned off the economy, as the finance adviser wishes, will not be an easy task to accomplish. All previous governments made such promises, but failed in the long run as they never meant business. So, one would expect that the interim government start the process of ridding the economy of black money. With the popular support it enjoys, the government can wage the war on corruption that engenders black money.
