Use the black money disclosure window and ‘sleep well’: Jaitley

Warning black money holders of “serious trouble” if they fail to come clean, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said people with undisclosed assets should use the limited period income declaration window, beginning Wednesday, if they want to “sleep well”.

The four-month window under the Income Declaration Scheme 2016, which opens on June 1, allows domestic black money holders to declare their unaccounted wealth by paying a tax and penalty totalling 45 per cent.

“Starting day after tomorrow, the new window opens and I will advise those who have undisclosed assets to declare it and pay the tax, and sleep well. Otherwise, the way the disclosures are becoming more and more public, they will run into serious trouble,” Jaitley told PTI here.

Jaitley, on a six-day trip to Japan to invite investments, said the compliance window is open to not only companies but also people having undisclosed income.

“When the black money law with regard to foreign assets was passed, I had said please declare and sleep well.

Now, those who didn’t declare and have had their names become public – either in Panama Papers or otherwise – I think are now having sleepless nights,” he said.

The Centre had last year come out with a three-month compliance window for foreign black money holders.

The domestic black money compliance window will open from June 1 to September 30 and the taxes and penalties can be paid within two months thereafter.

Under the scheme, income declared by eligible persons will will be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent plus a ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ of 25 per cent on the taxes payable, and a penalty at the rate of 25 per cent of the taxes payable. Tax and penalty will total to 45 per cent of the income declared, which has to be paid by November 30. The scheme will apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or otherwise, pertaining to Financial Year 2015-16 or earlier.

The declarations can either be made online on the official e-filing website of the Income Tax department, or before the various regional Principal Commissioners of I-T.