~25 k-cr disclosures under black money scheme so far

Disclosures pick up pace, clock ~25,000 crore; deadline Friday midnight

Declarations under the government’s fourmonth-long black money window picked up after a muted start with disclosures worth over ~25,000 crore being made by Thursday evening, a day before the window closes. The rush over the past few days has given confidence to the income tax department that declarations could range between ~30,000~40,000 crore by the time the window closes.

Declarations under the government’s fourmonth-long blackmoney-declaration window picked up pace after a muted start, with total disclosures clocking ~25,000 crore till 5 pm on Thursday. Officials accepted declarations till 8pm.

With the rush over the last few days, income-tax (I-T) department officials are confident total declarations could range between ~30,000 crore and ~40,000 crore by the time window closes midnight on Friday.

They said if the sum promised by various quarters could also come in, the declarations would swell.

However, the scheme would be a success if declarations worth more than ~50,000 crore were made, though ~40,000 crore would also not be bad either, they said.

Declarations worth ~40,000 crore would mean tax collections of about ~18,000 crore, as 45 per cent tax, cess and penalty would be imposed.

“The declarations have picked up pace significantly over the past two weeks, touching ~25,000 crore. If the promised sum also comes along, the scheme will be a success,” said a government official who did not want to be named.

By mid-August only about ~4000 crore worth of declarations had come in.

The department, according to officials, had got a steep “informal” target of about ~40,000 crore to ~50,000 crore in taxes. This would mean disclosures of about ~1 lakh crore.

It conducted numerous searches and surveys and reached out to potential declarants.

“Targets should always be steep,” said another official.

The department is banking on the promised sum by potential declarants in the one-to-one meetings with commissioners.

On allegations over taxmen targeting small shopkeepers and roadside eateries, the officials claimed one of those raided in Mumbai was found to have eight undisclosed properties.

“We are reaching out extensively to people. There is no harassment of any. We had reach-out programmes, one-to-one interactions, group interaction, and meetings with tax consultants. We also put up hoardings, and sent emails and texts. We are slowly getting the results for that,” said the official.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has spent ~100 crore advertising the scheme across the country.

The tax officers are working till 8pm on Wednesday and Thursday and till midnight on the last day of the scheme.

In the 1997 tax amnesty scheme, Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS), the government had received ~33,000 crore in declarations.

In contrast, only about 644 declarations worth ~4,164 crore were made under the black-money window for foreign assets last year, resulting in tax collection of ~2,428 crore.

The stiff warning from Prime Minister Narendra Modi against black money holders earlier this month may have also acted as a trigger for people to avail the one-time scheme.

Modi, in an interview to a private channel, had said, “No one should blame me if I take tough decisions after the 30th (of September).”

According to tax consultants, the high tax rate of 45 per cent and concerns over confidentiality of declarations were key deterrents for black money holders.

The income declaration scheme gives a chance to domestic tax payers to declare undisclosed income or assets by September 30 and avail immunity from prosecution under the Income-Tax Act, Wealth Tax Act and Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.