MUMBAI, June 5: The all India Association of Industries (AIAI) has called for an election tax to be levied on all tax assesses to meet the election expenditure. It says that each of the Income tax assesses should be levied a tax of Rs 100 to Rs 500 depending on the slab.It said that companies should pay Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 each which would fetch a minimum sum of Rs 1,500 crore over five years. In a memorandum on electoral reforms by AIAI president Vijay Kalantri, it says that due to this tax, there will be no danger of budget deficit widening further. This fund can be invested on a short-term basis. Asking for electoral rights for the non-resident Indians, the AIAI president has suggested a contribution of $ 10 or Rs 350 towards the election fund. Though it is highly unlikely that any government would levy any fresh tax, the AIAI nevertheless suggests that on the state level, the government can consider collecting Rs 100 to Rs 500 from limited companies and public limited companies which will mop up morethan Rs 500 crore to the respective state.
He said the total corpus should be handled by an independent body which distributes the monies to recognised political parties according the objective, fool proof norms. This body should also audit the accounts of political parties. It says contributions made to political parties should be made in cheque only while the political campaign should be shortened to reduce costs. He said standard format of expenses should be prescribed by the EC to avoid irrelevant areas of expenses.
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