^^ That amnesty offer doesn't make any sense actually. Lets say that some hoarder has 10 crore of unaccounted money.
Before the amnesty option was given, he could.
1. Choose not to deposit any money at all in which case the fresh currency printed for the equivalent amount would become govt funds.
2. Chose to deposit the money and/or get caught and lose the money in addition to running the risk of a 10 year imprisonment.
3. Chose to covert it to new currency in the black market by paying 20~30% commission in which case he would get back 7~8 crore, the broker get 2~3 crore and govt gets nothing
The most desirable option for govt would be option 1 and if they can keep option 3 infeasible for the most part, they can gain a lot and that makes the tax payers money used for printing the fresh currency somewhat worthwhile. For the hoarder, option 3 is the only viable option.
Now with this amnesty deal.
1. Chose to declare the cash and pay 50% tax in which case he would get back 5 crore and govt gets 5 crore but also incurs the additional cost of dealing with the old currency.
2. Chose to not declare it, potentially get caught and pay 85% tax in which case he gets 1.5 crore, govt gets 8.5 crore and he may also run risk of imprisonment.
3. Chose to covert it to new currency in the black market by paying 20~30% commission in which case he would get back 7~8 crore, the broker get 2~3 crore and govt gets nothing.
The hoarder will still see option 3 as the most desirable one, but govt stands to lose which ever option he chooses compared to option 1 without the amnesty deal.
The govt has absolutely no reason to make hoarders deposit their old currency. Regardless of whether they deposit or not, the govt has to print new currency and its actually beneficial if the black money is not deposited at all. They just need to make illegal exchange of currencies very very difficult.
Even if there is a penalty for the deposit, there is still a cost associated with dealing with the old currency (sorting, logistics, destruction etc). 10 crore of cash in Rs 1000 denominations would weigh about 170 Kg. Imagine the cost of dealing with such huge stashes of currency.
So basically, this amnesty deal makes the tax payers money spent on this whole deal and the troubles that people are facing utterly meaningless. It is essentially benefiting the hoarders at the expense of tax payers.