Faced with the challenge of curbing black money in electoral process, the Income Tax department has now proposed assessment of the income of political parties under the provisions of ''charity'' law instead of the present system of doing so under a special clause.
The department’s proposal, prepared after its investigation wings across the country helped the Election Commission in conducting polls in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam, has been sent to the Finance Ministry and the Election Commission for consideration.
“The I-T department’s argument is that when exemptions and special provisions are enjoyed by political parties they should be suitably justified. Invoking the charitable clause while exempting income of political parties is a step to curb the use of illegal money power in the elections,” a senior officer privy to the development said.
This will enable the I-T department to better assess and scrutinise the incomes of political parties and check if proper use of this income was made by the party, the officer said.
The services of the investigation and enforcement wings of the I-T department were deployed hugely by the EC since the Assembly polls in Bihar last year, after the EC created a first-ever Election Expenditure Monitoring (EEM) cell within its establishment.
Interestingly, the EC has recently increased the strength of the unit by sanctioning another post of an Indian Revenue Service official, after it felt that the cell has a “huge task” to deal with in the coming days. With the proposed change, the I-T department also expects to keep a check on fake applicants and political parties.
