India's political parties must overhaul how they fund candidates, says tax department
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India's income tax department wants the government to implement stiffer rules on the funding of elections to boost transparency and curb corruption in a country which has suffered a series of major graft scandals, the Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
The department wants donations made to political parties of over 20,000 rupees ($440) to be paid through account payee cheques only, according to the newspaper.
The department is also demanding that political parties who are funding their candidate's campaigns during polls pay the individual's expenses directly, rather than provide funds by cash or cheque.
"This way money thus sanctioned can go only into the account of the person to whom the cheques are made payable. The department believes transparency can also be brought in by parties making expenses on behalf of their candidates directly," the Indian Express said.
The department is also urging that at least one member of the country's Election Commission be from the Indian Revenue Service, said the report, adding that these proposals would be made to Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the tax department's annual conference on Tuesday.
Under current legislation, the income of political parties is exempt from taxation provided they maintain proper audited accounts and record every contribution over 20,000 rupees.
However, activists accuse political parties of not being transparent and the newspaper said that tax investigation officials seized around 550 million rupees ($12.2 million) of unaccounted money during local polls which took place over the last month.
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