New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the larger purpose of demonetisation was to move India from a tax non-compliant society to a compliant society.
“This is the positive impact of the Demonetisation. More formalisation of the Economy, More Money in the System, Higher Tax Revenue, Higher Expenditure, Higher Growth after the first two quarters,” Jaitley said in a blog.
The Finance Minister stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has twice released its reports stating that the demonetised notes Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 have been substantially deposited in the banks.
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“A widely stated comment has been that just because most of the currency came back into the Banks, the object of Demonetisation has not succeeded, Was the invalidation of the Non-deposited currency the only object of demonetisation? Certainly Not,” Jaitley said.
“The larger purpose of demonetisation was to move INDIA from a Tax Non-compliant society to a compliant society. This necessarily involved the formalisation of the Economy and a blow to the black money,” the Finance Minister added.
Jaitley said that there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of Income Tax (IT) returns filed in 2017-18 from 2014.
He noted that in the last two years, when the impact of demonetisation and other steps are analysed, the IT returns have increased by 19 per cent and 25%.
“Cash once deposited removes the anonymity of its owner. Accordingly, post demonetisation about 1.8 million depositors have been identified for enquiry. Many of them are being fastened with Tax and Penalties. Mere deposit in a bank does not lead to a presumption that it is TAX paid Money,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe at the Prime Minister Narendra over Demonetisation. He called it a ‘huge scam’ which helped his ‘crony capitalist friends’.
“It was not a mistake but a deliberate attack on the people,” said Gandhi at a press briefing in the national capital.
(With ANI inputs)