Black money abroad declaration form can be filed online
New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) The government has notified the form for declaring income and assets abroad as well rules for their calculation under the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Bill and these can also be filed online, parliament was told on Friday.
"A declaration under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (the Act) may be made before designated tax authority in Form 6 which may also be filed online," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
"Where the declaration is found to be in accordance with the provisions of section 71 (d) of the Act, the declarant is required to pay the requisite tax and penalty on the assets eligible for declaration latest by December 31, 2015 and intimate the designated tax authority," he said.
"After the intimation of payment by the declarant, the designated tax authority will issue an acknowledgement of the accepted declaration within 15 days of such intimation of payment of tax and penalty by the declarant," he added.
As per the Black Money Act, the declaration is not admissible in evidence against the declarant in any penalty or prosecution under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the minister said.
The act providing for heavy penalties for stashing away black money in foreign accounts came into force earlier this month, and rules have been notified for calculating income and assets abroad under it.
The value of the overseas assets, including immovable property, jewellery and precious stones, archaeological collections and paintings, shares and securities and shares in unlisted firms abroad will be calculated at the fair market value, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)earlier this month.
The value of an overseas bank account will be the sum of all deposits made in the account since its opening, the notification said.
The Black Money Act for the first time allows levy of tax in India on assets kept abroad.
Unlawful, undisclosed income abroad has been taxed under this law at a rate of 30 percent with an additional 30 percent penalty on it.
The law provides a compliance window for declaring and paying penalty. Failure to meet it will attract an additional penalty of 90 percent for a total tax liability of 120 percent on the quantum of black money abroad.
The ministry has notified September 30 as the expiry date of the compliance window, while allowing those with undisclosed income and assets abroad time till December 31 to pay the levies.
Admitting that there was no official estimation of black money within India or stashed away abroad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told parliament during the budget session that the government was examining the reports of three institutes on the matter.
An unofficial estimate puts the sum somewhere between $466 billion and $1.4 trillion.