For Indians, Paper Gold Can't Beat the Real Thing

Mumbai: India is meeting stiff resistance in its drive to make the buying of gold jewellery more transparent and to channel demand into paper gold to stop the metal being used to hide crores of rupees of undeclared 'black money'. If the Modi government's proposals don't catch, gold inflows will continue unabated in a country that accounts for nearly a fifth of global demand and stymie the PM's effort to create a new asset class that could lure savers and back investments. To track larger gold deals, this year's budget declared that, from June 1, customers would have to disclose their tax code, or Permanent Account Number (PAN), for purchases above a lakh. But jewellers - many of whom voted for PM Modi in last year's election - have protested, delaying the new rule. "No jeweller will refuse to sell just because the customer doesn't have a PAN card. He will find a way to ensure the customer leaves the store with jewellery," said Bachhraj Bamalwa of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation. Two-thirds of gold demand comes from rural areas where jewellery is a traditional store of wealth. Under PM Modi, India has opened 160 million new bank accounts but half are idle. And, in a country of 1.25 billion people, only 140 million have PAN cards. The finance ministry's tax department has forwarded the so-called 'notification' that would put the PAN card rule into effect to higher authorities, but "no decision has been taken so far", a senior official said. "The final decision probably needs political approval as it could have wider ramifications," added the official, who was not authorised to speak on the record. To try and divert some of the estimated 300 tonnes of annual demand for gold bars and coins to paper gold, the government also plans to issue bonds linked to the bullion price. "It is easier to hide unaccounted money in gold compared to other asset classes like property or shares. Such people are unlikely to switch to gold bonds," says Daman Prakash Rathod, director at Chennai-based wholesaler MNC Bullion. The government has also proposed a gold deposit scheme to mobilise some of the 21,000 tonnes of gold held by households and temples. Though the formal notification to enforce the PAN card rule has yet to be issued, jewellers have already found ways to beat it, by issuing many small invoices or writing informal receipts. It's a reminder that ill-conceived regulation can have unintended consequences, as happened after India raised import taxes on gold to 10 per cent in a series of hikes to August 2013. The duty failed to curb demand, but revived smuggling networks which, the World Gold Council estimates, imported 175 tonnes of gold in 2014. .© Thomson Reuters 2015

For Indians, Paper Gold Can't Beat the Real Thing

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