Election Tax : alternative of Electoral Bonds

 

 

After SBI handed over all data of Electoral Bonds and the Election Commission published it on its portal , lots of things became clear

News reports came out with umpteen types of analysis of WHO gave HOW MUCH to WHOM etc

But no one has , so far published an alternative of the kind I suggested in my following email :

Ø  Transparency in Political Funding ? .. ……………….06  July  2017

 

A couple of days ago , there was news that officers of Finance Ministry have started working on drafting of an ALTERNATE SCHEME for funding of elections , which will bar loss-making and Shell companies from funding political parties

Though a good suggestion, this is only peripheral

In my 7 year old suggestion, there were many advantages ( most notably, absence of Quid-pro-Quo )

But , whereas this is an “ advantage “  for “ transparent governance “ , for precisely the same reason , it becomes a “ disadvantage “ for those Corporate Donors / Corporate Electoral Trusts ( - to best of my knowledge, there were no INDIVIDUAL donors of Electoral Bonds ) . You know why !

This raises following possibility :

Corporates will simply STOP donating to the “ Central Election Fund “ ( controlled by Election Commission ) as proposed in my above-mentioned e-mail  !

Here is a way out :

Ø  Introduce an “ Election Tax “ ( payable by Corporates ) equal to 1 % of the Net Profit ( ala CSR , which stipulates , 3 % of ave net profit of past 3 years )

This suggestion must be viewed in the context of the Govt expecting Rs 9.23 lakh*crore of corporate tax collection for FY 23 – 24 ( = 3.11 % of GDP )

Very likely, my suggestion would result in an Election Tax collection of about Rs 30,000 crore / year

Ø  This will get paid in “ Election Tax Account “ section on Income Tax Department portal

Ø  On 31 Dec of each year, this amount will get transferred into Election Commission’s “ Central Election Fund “ bank account

Ø  This data will be transparently visible to everyone ( without login ) on portals of both, IT department and Election Commission ( not just the aggregate total but company-wise )

Ø  Disbursement from “ Central Election Fund “ to the eligible political parties ( based on a transparent / published formula ), will be as per my proposal in >  Transparency in Political Funding ?

To my above-mentioned earlier proposal , I would suggest adding one more following condition , as far as “ After the Election, re-imbursements of Election Expenses “ to the contesting candidates is concerned :

Ø  There will be NO REIMBURSEMENT to those candidates ( whether win or lose ) , against whom , there is even ONE CRIMINAL CASE ( of Serious Nature ) is pending , as per mobile app KYC

 

Dear Smt Sitharamanji,

 

Three things :

Ø  If you incorporate my proposal in your 100 DAYS ROAD-MAP , you will be fulfilling “ Modi Guarantee “

Ø  If implemented , my proposal will enable you to contest 2029 Lok Sabha Elections , without worrying about source of funds required to fight the election – or asking for obligation ( from you know WHO )

Ø  In all future elections ( Central or State ), we will find many more HONEST / COMPETENT candidates coming forward to fight elections as INDEPENDENTS(expect more Engineers / Scientists / Executives )

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.HemenParekh.ai  /  07 April 2024

Related Reading :

PM Modi speaks on electoral bonds, says 'those dancing over bond details will repent it ‘