Blackmoney Bill in LS provides for 10 yr jail, 90 pc tax

Blackmoney stashed abroad will entail a 10 year rigorous imprisonment and a whopping 90 per cent tax under the proposed stringent law that provides for a limited window of opportunity to offenders to disclose illicit wealth and escape prosecution.
Acting on his Budget promise, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced in the Lok Sabha today an 88-clause Bill that seeks to unearth blackmoney and assets stashed abroad, an issue the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had campaigned against in the Lok Sabha elections.
'The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015', that is proposed to come into effect from April 1, 2016, provides for taxation at the flat rate of 30 per cent without any exemption, deduction, set off or carry forward losses permissible under the Income Tax Act.

The Bill provides for a separate taxation of undisclosed income abroad which will be no longer be taxed under the Income Tax Act.
In the statement of objects and reasons appended to the Bill, Jaitley says a limited window is provided to offenders to file a declaration before a specified tax authority within a period, followed by payment of tax at 30 per cent and an equal amount of penalty.
"Upon fulfilling these conditions, a person shall now be prosecuted under the Bill and declaration made by him will not be used as evidence against him in the Wealth Tax, Foreign Exchange Management Tax, the Companies Act or the Customs Act," it said.

"Wealth Tax shall not be payable on any asset so disclosed. It is merely an opportunity for persons to become tax compliant before the stringent provisions of the new legislation comes into force," Jaitley said.