The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, which promised to tackle the generation of black incomes and to even bring black money back to India, has over the past two years made many announcements that have little bite, like double taxation agreements, among others. Without strong deterrence, curbing the black economy is difficult. That is why widening the direct tax base from 1% of the population, evident from the recently released tax data, has not been feasible.
