Last chance to declare unaccounted money; amnesty scheme begins today

New Delhi: In a last chance to declare unaccounted money, the government announced on Friday that amnesty scheme for black money will open from Saturday.

Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, people can come clean by paying 50 per cent tax and lock in 25 per cent of the total declared funds in interest-free bonds for four years.

The scheme will remain open until 31st March. President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave the nod to amendments in Income-Tax Act passed by the Lok Sabha in the just concluded Parliament session. As per the amendment, those who don't declare their black money and are caught by tax department will have to pay tax between 77 per cent to 100 per cent and will also be liable for prosecution.

“We don’t want an inspector raj on people. So we request people to take benefit of this scheme. We don't want the income tax to go after people. We want people who have black money to understand that we have all the information about their deposits,” said Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia.

“We are getting information on a daily basis about every kind of deposit from small deposits to large ones and passing out to enforcement agencies. Be these deposits in dormant accounts, Jan Dhan accounts, urban co-operative accounts, or cash payments in loan accounts or any other way. Some people were depositing less than Rs 2 lakh in multiple accounts. We have all the information. They are under our radar,” said Mr Adhia.