I-T dept starts analysing deposits post note ban

The Income Tax department has begun the process to examine bank deposits and transactions to check possible black money instances and said once the last opportunity to declare funds in old notes under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana ends it will be very tough for hoarders.

Interacting with representatives of trade bodies, Chartered Accountants and other professionals, Principal Commissioner of Income Tax A K Chauhan said that under the PMGKY scheme, cash and deposits "maintained" by a person can only be declared by an entity and not in the name of someone else.

"We are in the process of examining and identifying deposits in bank accounts. So, I would say don't feel complacent...People who wish to use the scheme should avail the PMGKY. We are putting in our efforts to analyse the data that we obtain from the Financial Intelligence Unit and others to do this," he said.

"After the closure of the scheme, it will be really really tough for evaders," Chauhan told the participants.

He said the scheme is valid for people and entities who maintain their own cash and deposits, and if they aim to avail the PMGKY for someone else, whose accounts they handle, that will fall into the purview of the Benami Transactions Act, which is not allowed under the latest scheme.

"The declaration made under the PMGKY shall not confer any benefit, concession or immunity on any person other than the declarant," he said.

Chauhan also told them that the PMGKY should not be considered as the "Income Declaration Scheme Part-II" as it has a different "motive and purpose".

While ensuring that the "confidentiality" of the declarations under the latest scheme will be guaranteed, he said this was the "last opportunity" for people with black money to come clean.

The PMGKY provides last chance to holders of undisclosed income in the form of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to come clean but any person facing prosecution for corruption, holding benami property, money laundering, violation of foreign exchange or drug trafficking among others will not be eligible to be a declarant under the scheme.

The senior I-T department official of Delhi region reiterated the salient features of the scheme during the interactive session.

Tax at the rate of 30 per cent on the undisclosed income, surcharge of 33 per cent of tax and penalty of 10 per cent on such income is payable, besides mandatory deposit of 25 per cent of the undisclosed income is to be ensured in the PMGK Deposit Scheme.

Income declared under the scheme will not be included in the total income of the declarant under the Income Tax Act for any assessment year.

Also, non-declaration of the black money under the scheme now but showing it as income in the tax return form would lead to a total levy of 77.25 per cent in taxes and penalty.

In case the disclosure is not made either using the scheme or in return and the taxman later detects it through its intelligence and investigation methods, a further 10 per cent penalty on tax will be levied followed by prosecution, he added.

The declarations, he said, can be made by the declarant before the Jurisdictional Principal Commissioner of I-T or using the e-filing portal of the department in prescribed forms for both the primary scheme and the deposits scheme.