Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reiterated his warning to tax evaders to come clean on undisclosed income by September 30, saying that while he did not intend to raise taxes, the government needs revenue for running social development programmes.
"There is no need to increase the taxes. The country can run without troubling the citizens. I am working towards it. That is why I have given the citizens a chance to pay the taxes till 30th September," Modi said in an interview to Times Now news channel.
"If they think they want to come into mainstream, they must and shouldn't be worried. After 30th September, the government will have to take steps.
"If I need to give houses to the poor, we would need revenue. I don't want to increase taxes, I just want taxes to be paid honestly.
"It is definitely a warning. It is a warning. My first warning is to my government officers to not presume citizens as thieves. I have already given this warning," he added.
In his monthly radio address on Sunday, Modi urged citizens with undisclosed income to come clean by September 30 and said the revenue department will soon unveil a mechanism to keep track of undisclosed income.
He, moreover, wondered how there could only be 1.5 lakh people with taxable income of over Rs 50 lakh in a country of a billion people.
In this connection, he said looking at people living in huge bungalows worth crores it was difficult to believe, they had annual incomes of less than Rs 50 lakh.
