The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday urged the government not to provide any scope to legalise black money in the next budget, terming the facility discriminatory, unconstitutional and conducive to corruption.
The TIB also expressed surprise and outrage at the finance minister’s statement on extending the opportunity given by the government to whiten black money for an indefinite period.
“In the long run, the benefits of whitening black money will discourage honest taxpayers and encourage the institutionalisation of the culture of default in the tax system,” the anti-graft body said in a statement.
“This opportunity will create a liberal situation in the country that is conducive to corruption as there will be no opportunity to question the source of income. This will challenge any attempt to establish the rule of law and good governance by weakening the anti-corruption position of the government.”
In view of these fears and in line with the “zero-tolerance policy” against corruption, the TIB urged the government not to provide the black money whitening opportunity in the budget for fiscal 2021-22.
Last week, the finance minister said as long as there was undisclosed money in the economy, there would be an opportunity to whiten it.
In such a reality, the plan to keep the black money whitening opportunities indefinitely will highlight the question of fairness and equity in the tax system, said TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman in the press release.
“And it will be considered as a new incentive for the corrupt at the time of Covid-19. So, it is expected that the government will move away from such reckless and suicidal plans.”
If there was an opportunity to legalise black money with only 10 per cent tax, why should honest taxpayers pay 25 to 30 per cent income tax, he questioned.
“Even if the government gets some revenue from such an opportunity temporarily, it will gradually encourage a large number of taxpayers to default, which will increase the level of revenue loss in the long run and institutionalise a new culture of tax evasion,” said Iftekharuzzaman.
Now is the right time to stop the long-standing unconstitutional practice of providing opportunities for whitening black money, said the TIB executive director.