Skip to main content

Benami property transactions on I-T radar

By
With the validity date ended on Friday for normal exchange of old currency notes, the income tax (I-T) department is working on ‘property index cards’ featuring high value realty transactions in the past three years.
They’ve also outlined stringent action against those reportedly having deposited unaccounted old currency in someone else’s bank account.
Officials are believed to have directed property dealers and registration authorities to give lists of top property deals in descending order of valuation over three years.
“Tackling benami (property officially in someone else’s name, to avoid tax) properties and transactions is one of our key items. On the basis of information on property transactions and bank deposits, we have decided to probe such cases under the newly enforced Benami Transactions Act,” said an I-T official.
The Act allows violators to be sentenced to a term of up to seven years in jail. “Benami amounts in a bank account will be confiscated and the violator also be liable to a fine which extends up to 25 per cent of the fair market value of a benami property,” the official added.
Sources say the plan was prepared under the supervision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in meetings just before the demonetisation drive came to an end. This was the first such since November 8.
Based on inputs from financial intelligence units and banking channels, the department has decided to do surveys and searches in instalments. Initially, they will go after the individuals who have deposited more than Rs.50 crore since November 1.
Business Standard New Delhi,31st December 2016

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

By
  New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...
Post a Comment
Read more