In one of the biggest ever declaration of black money, £6.52 billion was declared as unaccounted income and assets under the government's four month long Income Declaration Scheme 2016, which ended last week.
A total of 64,275 people declared their unaccounted wealth under the window; an average of £10 million per person. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the figures were most likely to be revised upwards after the tabulation of data is finalised. Out of the total amount of £2.93 billion as tax and penalty from these declarations, around £1.47 billion will flow into central government coffers in the current financial year, while the remaining amount will be collected in the next financial year.
Jaitley said, "Some disclosures have not been tabulated and those have to be verified. So the £6.52 billion will be revised upward. So far, 64,27 declarants have disclosed an amount of £6.52 billion." He said it was a "good figure", and that the declarations came from people with significant resources, adding that the government would maintain the secrecy of these disclosures. The minister listed the achievements of the government in the call against black money over the last two years, and said that from among the names figuring in the HSBC list, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has already filed 164 prosecutions, amounting to an assessment of £800 million.
The probe is being monitored by the Special Investigation Team set up under the directions of the Supreme Court. The government extended the deadline for payment of tax and penalty in July, and allowed declarants to pay the amount in three instalments by September 30, 2017. The first instalment of 25 per cent will have to be paid by November 2016, followed by another 25 per cent by March 31, 2017. The remaining amount will have to be paid by September 30, 2017.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and the Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairperson Rani Singh Nair, on Twitter, saying their team had "put tremendous effort on all aspects relating to IDS-2016." A CBDT statement said the tax department took several measures to spread awareness about the scheme, due to which declarations picked up during the last two months. Over 5,500 public meetings were conducted in various cities, talkathons and street plays were organised, and a series of FAQs were issued by the department to spread awareness about the scheme.
A sharp rise in searches has resulted in the seizure of cash of £198.60 million as well as undetected income of £5.64 billion in the last two and half years, Jaitley said. The CBDT through intensive monitoring of the database of non-filers of tax returns has collected £1.60 billion in additional tax collections, the CBDT said in a release. Cases of prosecution and compounding in the last two and half years rose to 3,626 - or more than double that of the previous two years, it said.
