Too much cash transaction illegal?

NEW DELHI: The government, in its renewed offensive against black money, plans to declare cash transactions above a certain amount “illegal”. It may also require tax-paying residents to inform the government before opening a bank account overseas.

This will “strengthen archaic laws, improve enforcement actions and give more teeth to international treaties,” revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia told HT. “More checks and barriers will stop illegal-fund flow into and out of the country, and help more in search and seizure operations.”

Existing restrictions to curb black money include giving Permanent Account Number (PAN) on cash transactions above `2 lakh, for sale or purchase of immovable property beyond `10 lakh, paying of hotel and restaurant bills of `50,000 and above, purchasing gold jewellery above `2 lakh, and buying and selling of `1 lakh worth of shares of an unlisted company, among others.

The government is also looking to increase the usage of PAN and Aadhaar numbers to include more transactions, and modify global tax treaties to get direct access to data in case of probes, Adhia said.

Undisclosed income from search and seizures conducted by taxmen in 2014-15 and 2015-16) amounted to `21,354 crore, while surveys yielded `22,475 crore.

Search and seizures are raids, which the I-T department conducts at both office and residential premises of tax evaders. During surveys, taxmen check the books of accounts of evaders and ask them to voluntarily disclose unaccounted wealth.