Letters: The nub of the matter

With reference to the editorial, "Prompt response" (April 6), I agree that the government has swiftly initiated corrective steps following the leak of some documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that reveal how the rich and influential park their money in offshore havens.

That said, all the offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands may not be illegal, hence a thorough multi-agency investigation would be the right step to arrive at the correct conclusion.

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Even though public outcry forced Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (pictured) to resign in the wake of his name figuring on the list of people with offshore accounts, at least he did not remain in his post or resort to a long-drawn-out legal battle. I wish some of the Indian bigwigs on the same list would act in a similar way. But of course, I don't expect such a reaction from them. First, they will deny any wrongdoing; then they will hire lawyers to prove their contention; then the appeals and cases will continue for decades. Eventually, everyone will forget the episode and it will be "business as usual".

However, the multi-agency probe, if carried out speedily and honestly, should be able to uncover the truth and separate the legitimate accounts from the ones belonging to tax evaders.

As the editorial says that while "strict enforcement of tax laws to prevent misuse of the existing system" is important, the government must also act quickly to set up "a simple taxation regime enforced by a revenue department that has a non-adversarial approach to taxpayers". Herein lies the crux of the issue.

I hope that the steps already taken to "simplify and rationalise tax administration" will be carried forward with the same speed as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's announcement about probing into the Panama Papers scandal.

Krishan Kalra, Gurgaon

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