Evasion
of taxes deprives the nation of critical resources which could enable the
Government to undertake anti-poverty and development programmes. It also puts a
disproportionate burden on the honest taxpayers who have to bear the brunt of
higher taxes to make up for the revenue leakage. As a step forward to curb
black money, bank notes of existing series of denomination of the value of
Rs.500 and Rs.1000 [Specified Bank Notes(SBN)] have been recently withdrawn the
Reserve Bank of India.
Concerns
have been raised that some of the existing provisions of the Income-tax Act,
1961 (the Act) can possibly be used for concealing black money. The Taxation
Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 (‘the Bill’) has been introduced in the
Parliament to amend the provisions of the Act to ensure that defaulting
assessees are subjected to tax at a higher rate and stringent penalty
provision.
Further,
in the wake of declaring specified bank notes “as not legal tender”, there have
been suggestions from experts that instead of allowing people to find illegal
ways of converting their black money into black again, the Government should
give them an opportunity to pay taxes with heavy penalty and allow them to come
clean so that not only the Government gets additional revenue for undertaking
activities for the welfare of the poor but also the remaining part of the
declared income legitimately comes into the formal economy.
In
this backdrop, an alternative Scheme namely, ‘Taxation
and Investment Regime for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016’
(PMGKY) has been proposed in the Bill. The declarant under this regime shall be
required to pay tax @ 30% of the undisclosed income, and penalty @10% of the
undisclosed income. Further, a surcharge to be called ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Cess’ @33% of tax is also proposed to be levied. In addition to tax,
surcharge and penalty (totaling to approximately 50%), the declarant shall have
to deposit 25% of undisclosed income in a Deposit Scheme to be notified by the
RBI under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme, 2016’. This amount
is proposed to be utilised for the schemes of irrigation, housing, toilets,
infrastructure, primary education, primary health, livelihood, etc., so that
there is justice and equality.
An
overview of the amendments proposed in the Bill are placed below;
Overview
of Amendments Proposed
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PARTICULARS
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EXISTING PROVISIONS
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PROPOSED PROVISIONS
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General
provision for penalty
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PENALTY (Section 270A)
Under-reporting - @50% of tax
Misreporting - @200% of tax
(Under-reporting/ Misreporting income
is normally difference between returned income and assessed income)
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No changes proposed
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Provisions
for taxation & penalty of unexplained credit, investment, cash and other
assets
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TAX (Section 115BBE)
Flat
rate of tax @30% + surcharge + cess
(No
expense, deductions, set-off is allowed)
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TAX (Section 115BBE)
Flat
rate of tax @60% + surcharge @25% of tax (i.e. 15% of
such income). So total incidence of tax is 75% approx.
(No expense, deductions, set-off is
allowed)
PENALTY (Section 271AAC)
If
Assessing Officer determines income referred to in section 115BBE, penalty
@10% of tax payable in addition to tax (including surcharge) of 75%.
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Penalty
for search seizure cases
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Penalty (271AAB)
(i)
10% of income, if admitted, returned and taxes are paid
(ii)
20% of income, if not admitted but returned and taxes are
paid
(iii)
60% of income in any other case
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Penalty (271AAB)
(i)
30% of income, if admitted, returned and taxes are paid
(ii)
60% of income in any other case
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Taxation and Investment Regime for
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016’ (PMGKY)
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New Taxation and Investment
Regime
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Undisclosed
income in the form of cash & bank deposit can be declared:
(A) Tax, Surcharge, Penalty payable
Tax @30% of income declared
Surcharge @33% of tax
Penalty @10% of income declared
Total @50% of income (approx.)
(B) Deposit
25% of declared income to be deposited in interest
free Deposit Scheme for four years.
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DSM/AK