Government of India<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ministry of Finance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Department of Revenue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Central Board of
\nDirect Taxes<\/strong><\/p>\n

North Block, New
\nDelhi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dated: 20th March,
\n2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                                           PRESS
\nRELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION OF THE UNDISCLOSED FOREIGN
\nINCOME AND ASSETS (IMPOSITION OF TAX) BILL, 2015<\/p>\n

The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, while
\nacknowledging the limitations under the existing law, had conveyed the
\nconsidered decision of the Government to enact a comprehensive new law on black
\nmoney to specifically deal with black money stashed away abroad. He also
\npromised to introduce the new Bill in the current Session of the Parliament.<\/p>\n

 2. In order to fulfil
\nthe commitment made by the Government to the people of India through the
\nParliament, the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill,
\n2015 has been introduced in the Parliament on 20.03.2015. The Bill provides for
\nseparate taxation of any undisclosed income in relation to foreign income and
\nassets. Such income will henceforth not be taxed under the Income-tax Act but
\nunder the stringent provisions of the proposed new legislation. <\/p>\n

3. The salient features of the Undisclosed Foreign Income and
\nAssets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 are as under:-<\/p>\n

Scope \u2013 The Act will apply to all persons resident in India.
\nProvisions of the Act will apply to both undisclosed foreign income and assets
\n(including financial interest in any entity).<\/p>\n

Rate of tax \u2013 Undisclosed foreign income or assets shall be
\ntaxed at the flat rate of 30 percent. No exemption or deduction or set off of
\nany carried forward losses which may be admissible under the existing
\nIncome-tax Act, 1961, shall be allowed.<\/p>\n

 Penalties \u2013 Violation
\nof the provisions of the proposed new legislation will entail stringent
\npenalties. <\/p>\n

4. The penalty for non-disclosure of income or an asset
\nlocated outside India will be equal to three times the amount of tax payable
\nthereon, i.e., 90 percent of the undisclosed income or the value of the
\nundisclosed asset. This is in addition to tax payable at 30%.<\/p>\n

5. Failure to furnish return in respect of foreign income or
\nassets shall attract a penalty of Rs.10 lakh. The same amount of penalty is
\nprescribed for cases where although the assessee has filed a return of income,
\nbut he has not disclosed the foreign income and asset or has furnished
\ninaccurate particulars of the same. <\/p>\n

Prosecutions \u2013 The Bill proposes enhanced punishment for
\nvarious types of violations.<\/p>\n

6. The punishment for willful attempt to evade tax in
\nrelation to a foreign income or an asset located outside India will be rigorous
\nimprisonment from three years to ten years. In addition, it will also entail a
\nfine. <\/p>\n

7. Failure to furnish a return in respect of foreign assets
\nand bank accounts or income will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a
\nterm of six months to seven years. The same term of punishment is prescribed
\nfor cases where although the assessee has filed a return of income, but has not
\ndisclosed the foreign asset or has furnished inaccurate particulars of the
\nsame.<\/p>\n

The above provisions will also apply to beneficial owners or
\nbeneficiaries of such illegal foreign assets.<\/p>\n

8. Abetment or inducement of another person to make a false
\nreturn or a false account or statement or declaration under the Act will be
\npunishable with rigorous imprisonment from six months to seven years. This
\nprovision will also apply to banks and financial institutions aiding in
\nconcealment of foreign income or assets of resident Indians or falsification of
\ndocuments. <\/p>\n

Safeguards \u2013 The principles of natural justice and due
\nprocess of law have been embedded in the Act by laying down the requirement of
\nmandatory issue of notices to the person against whom proceedings are being
\ninitiated, grant of opportunity of being heard, necessity of taking the
\nevidence produced by him into account, recording of reasons, passing of orders
\nin writing, limitation of time for various actions of the tax authority, etc.
\nFurther, the right of appeal has been protected by providing for appeals to the
\nIncome-tax Appellate Tribunal, and to the jurisdictional High Court and the
\nSupreme Court on substantial questions of law.<\/p>\n

9. To protect persons holding foreign accounts with minor
\nbalances which may not have been reported out of oversight or ignorance, it has
\nbeen provided that failure to report bank accounts with a maximum balance of
\nupto Rs.5 lakh at any time during the year will not entail penalty or
\nprosecution.<\/p>\n

 10. Other safeguards
\nand internal control mechanisms will be prescribed in the Rules. <\/p>\n

One time compliance opportunity \u2013 The Bill also provides a
\none time compliance opportunity for a limited period to persons who have any
\nundisclosed foreign assets which have hitherto not been disclosed for the
\npurposes of Income-tax. Such persons may file a declaration before the
\nspecified tax authority within a specified period, followed by payment of tax
\nat the rate of 30 percent and an equal amount by way of penalty. Such persons
\nwill not be prosecuted under the stringent provisions of the new Act. It is to
\nbe noted that this is not an amnesty scheme as no immunity from penalty is
\nbeing offered. It is merely an opportunity for persons to come clean and become
\ncompliant before the stringent provisions of the new Act come into force.<\/p>\n

 Amendment of PMLA \u2013
\nThe Bill also proposes to amend Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
\nto include offence of tax evasion under the proposed legislation as a scheduled
\noffence under PMLA.<\/p>\n

 11. Thus, in keeping
\nwith the commitment of the government for focussed action on black money front,
\nan unprecedented and multi-pronged attack has been launched to root out the
\nmenace of black money. The Government is confident that this new law will act
\nas a strong deterrent and curb the menace of black money stashed abroad by
\nIndians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                                                                                                                                                                                (Rekha
\nShukla)<\/p>\n

  Commissioner of Income Tax <\/p>\n

  (Media & Technical Co-ordination) <\/p>\n

Official
\nSpokesperson<\/p>\n

 Central Board of Direct Taxes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                                           PRESS RELEASE The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, while acknowledging the limitations under the existing law, had conveyed the considered decision of the Government to enact a comprehensive new law on black money to specifically deal with black money stashed away abroad. He also promised to introduce the new … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-income-tax","tag-undisclosed"],"yoast_head":"\n