New Delhi, August 5: Information provided during the one-time compliance window on black money, expiring next month-end, can be revealed in the public interest, the government has said.
“By and large, the information would be kept confidential. Under the new law (black money), it is not the case that we will put up a public notice that so and so has availed the benefit and paid tax,” revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das said at a “Talkathon” here Tuesday with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairperson Anita Kapur. “However, the department can declare it in public interest,” he said. “In this law, there is no assurance of confidentiality, but at the same time there is a provision that Section 138 of Income Tax Act, which is basically a confidentiality provision, that information of the individual tax payer will be kept confidential,” Das added.
The secretary said the revenue department would come out with a second set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. The department had earlier released a list of FAQs, which also said disclosures made under the said act would have “immunity from prosecution under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Income Tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Companies Act and Customs Act”. It, however, does not provide immunity from prosecution under any other statute.
The offence of willful attempt to evade tax will also not be an offence under the PMLA, the FAQs added. The one-time 90-day compliance window granted to foreign asset holders to make a declaration, however, does not guarantee immunity for wealth generated from corruption, it said. Das also said it would be difficult for anyone to run away from the “long arm of the law” as the whole international community is taking concerted steps to check tax evasion. “The Indian government will start getting information from different countries under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) from 2017,” he said. IANS
