While campaigning for the Lok Sabha Elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave a speech in Amla, Uttar Pradesh and claimed that Congress had announced that more than half of the property of the people will be confiscated after their death.
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What did the Prime Minister say?: This speech of the Prime Minister is available on the official YouTube channel of BJP.
PM Modi says at 21:48 minutes:
Congress wants the property you have kept for your children and, what you want is to give something to your children after death, and hence you save. Congress has announced that after your death, your children will not get all the property. More than half of it will be confiscated by the SP and Congress governments. Taxes will be imposed in such a way that that property will be confiscated. This means that if you have built a house with four rooms, then the Congress-SP government will take over two of those rooms. If you have a farm of ten bighas, then five bighas of it will be given to your sons and daughters, the remaining 5 bighas will be taken over by Congress-SP government. And to whom will they distribute it? They will loot all this and distribute it to their preferred vote bank.Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Is this true ? : The claim is false. Neither has Congress claimed in its election manifesto nor have Congress leaders announced this in any election rally.
In 1985, the then Congress government had abolished the additional tax on property inherited by heirs after death. This information is available on the official website of the Government of India.
The issue of confiscating property has come to light after the recent interview of Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda.
While answering a question in the interview, Sam Pitroda had said some things in support of the Inheritance Tax system in America. However, Pitroda did not say that such a system would be implemented if the Congress government is formed.
Sam Pitroda was also seen clarifying in the interview that the announcements of the Congress Party do not at all mean that property will be taken from the rich and given to the poor.
The Congress Party has not officially supported Pitroda's views on Inheritance Tax. Rather, it has clearly distanced itself from this statement.
How did we find out?: We, first, read the manifesto of the Congress party.
We did not find any such announcement in the Congress manifesto which said that people's property would be confiscated if the government is formed.
In the section on equity justice, Congress mentions it will find out the social status of castes and sub-castes.
It has also been said that Congress will distribute land to the landless. But there is no mention anywhere of anyone's property being confiscated.
How did this issue come to light?: The issue of confiscation of property gained momentum recently after the statement of Congress leader Sam Pitroda.
In an interview given to ANI, Sam Pitroda was asked about the allegations that people's property will be redistributed.
Sam Pitroda says this in response to the question at 20 seconds:
“This does not at all mean that you will take their (the rich) property and distribute it to someone else. This means making new policies, so that money can be prevented from being limited to one place. This is exactly like the Monopoly Act. This doesn't mean I'll take your shirt. This is just not possible. But future policies may be such that the same group does not exist everywhere. There is a Monopoly Act in America also. We have to see that some people are becoming very rich, and have started running the government of such rich people. There is nothing wrong in being rich, there is nothing wrong in accumulating wealth. But to what extent? Let me tell you, there is inheritance tax in America. So, let's assume that if someone has assets worth $100 million and when he dies, he can transfer only 45% to his children and the government takes the remaining 55%. This is an interesting law. This law says that you created wealth in your time, in your generation and now you are leaving, you should leave your wealth for the public. You are giving not the entire share of your property to the public but only half and I find it appropriate to do so.Sam Pitroda to news agency ANI.
However, Sam Pitroda has nowhere said in this entire statement that the Congress Party will implement Inheritance Tax if the government is formed.
But even after this the Congress party has distanced itself from Pitroda's statement. The Congress Party has clarified that Pitroda's statement regarding Inheritance Tax is not an official statement of the party.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in the press conference held on 25 April, "I want to make it clear, there is no mention of the inheritance tax in our manifesto. Inheritance tax is not our agenda. The reality is that in 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had removed it. In 2014 and 2019, Arun Jaitley, Jayant Sinha and many BJP supporters advocated inheritance tax. We have never mentioned inheritance tax, it is not on our agenda.
Jairam Ramesh has also clarified regarding Sam Pitroda's statement that Pitroda's personal views were not the official view of the party, in an interview to ANI, streamed by India Today.
He said, "In a democracy, a person is certainly free to express his views, discuss and debate his personal views, but this does not mean that Pitroda ji's views always reflect the position of the Indian National Congress. Even in this matter his views do not reflect the official stand of the party."
Congress government had abolished inheritance tax: When Jairam Ramesh claimed that the Congress government had abolished inheritance tax in 1985, we also investigated this claim.
We found an article published on The Hindu . It is told that the Government of India had passed a law called Estate Tax in 1953. According to this law, if someone's property was given to his heirs after death, additional tax was levied on it. But, in 1985 the government abolished this tax.
It is also stated in the budget document of 2000-2001 available on the official website of the Government of India that this tax was abolished in 1985.
The Quint has contacted Prime Minister's Office regarding PM Narendra Modi's claim. This report will be updated once we get their clarification.
Even on 21 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that Congress talked about confiscating jewellery of women in its manifesto. It was also claimed that Congress had said during its tenure that Muslims have the first right on the country's resources. The Quint had also investigated these claims. Read our report here.
Conclusion: It is not true that PM Modi's claim that Congress has announced that if the government is formed, half the property of those who have died will be confiscated.
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