Mumbai: The house was listening seriously to the various schemes for different sectors in the BUDGET 2017- 18. As soon as Finance Ministers started talking about political funding, the house was abuzz with murmurs. The Finance Minister Jaitley with a wry smile spoke about the proposed plan.
Anonymous donations to political parties has been the talking point for a long time. As per the new budget provisions, political parties will not be able to take cash donations beyond 2000/-. Anything above this has to be paid in cheque or by online means. Earlier this limit was 20,000/-.
Electoral bonds have been proposed, which can be bought from banks by donors only through cheques/digital modes, and redeemable only on the account of registered political parties.
Every political party will have to file returns in accordance with the I-T Act, and exemption from income tax will be available only in compliance with these requirements.
This move of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is said to be a master stroke to keep a track on the political parties and their anonymous donations.
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