Q. Which Bill was introduced to impose higher rate of tax in undisclosed incomes?- Published on 30 Nov 16a. Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016
b. Taxation Laws (Third Amendment) Bill, 2016
c. Taxation Laws (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2016
d. Taxation Laws (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2016
ANSWER: Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 28 November 2016 introduced the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill that amends tax laws seeks to impose a higher rate of tax and penalty in respect of undisclosed incomes.
This amendment bill has proposed to tax at 50 percent the unaccounted demonetised cash that is disclosed voluntary till 30 December 2016.
It says, up to 85 percent tax and penalty will be levied on undisclosed wealth that is discovered by authorities after 30 December 2016.
The Bill proposes a Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) 2016 wherein the unaccounted, now banned INR 500 and 1000 rupee notes, deposited in banks between 10 November and 30 December 2016, will be taxed at 30 percent plus a 10 percent penalty.
A 33 percent surcharge on the tax will take the total levy to 50 percent.
The Bill proposes to amend Section 115BBE of the Income Tax Act to provide for a steep 60 percent tax and a 25 percent surcharge on it (total 75 percent) for black money holders who choose to disclose after PMGKY ends.
The bill also inserts a new section that calls for an additional 10 percent penalty on being established that the undeclared wealth is unaccounted or black money, taking the total incidence of levies to 85 percent.
