Black money brings dynamism to economy: Kamal

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said the government wants to allow whitening more undisclosed money in near future as it can bring dynamism to the economy.

“We have given scope to legalise undisclosed money in this fiscal year. By taking that opportunity, people whitened undisclosed money in the last six months, which is good for the economy,” he said in response to a question after a virtual meeting of Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday.

Regarding the housing sector attracting huge amounts of black money, he said the government reduced stamp duty on property registration. “That is why undisclosed money has gone to the housing sector,” the minister added.

A whopping Tk10,220 crore entered the formal economy in the first half of the current fiscal year after many untaxed money-holders whitened their assets by paying taxes, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the current fiscal year’s budget, the government has provided a money-legalising opportunity by showing undeclared cash, bank deposits, savings certificates, shares, bonds or any other securities without facing any question.

The opportunity can be availed by paying taxes at a rate of 10 percent on the value of said declaration from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, he proposed.