Financial Times

Tax dodgers swamp Dept.

The Inland Revenue Department is being flooded with declarants seeking to make use of the government's controversial tax amnesty before it ends on June 30.

"A lot of people are coming in at the last minute," a senior Inland Revenue Department official said. "We've had over 1,000 declarants within the last week." He said he was unaware of speculation that the amnesty would be extended.

Finance Minister K.N. Choksy said recently that some 1200 people had made declarations under the amnesty granted by the government with the aim of bringing black money into the formal economy and increasing the tax base by encouraging people to pay taxes.

The government has said the tax base is far too narrow with the Inland Revenue Department having less than 400,000 tax files. When he presented the bill to give legal effect to the amnesty earlier this year, Choksy told Parliament that it will enable tax dodgers to clear their past liabilities and become legitimate taxpayers.

Absolute secrecy will be maintained and no investigation or prosecution will take place and any action already taken will be withdrawn if those who had violated the law accept their fault and seek amnesty, he said.