Latest news with #BlackMoneyAct
Hans India
29 minutes ago
- Business
- Hans India
Black Money Law: Govt raises over Rs 35K cr tax demand
New Delhi: The government has raised tax and penalty demand of over Rs35,105 crore and filed 163 prosecution complaints till March 31 under the foreign black money law, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, the government has recovered Rs338 crore towards tax/penalty/interest between July 1, 2015 and March 31, 2025. 'Till March 31, 2025, 1021 assessments have been completed under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, raising tax and penalty demand of over Rs35,105 crore approximately and total 163 prosecutions complaints have been filed,' Chaudhary said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. The tax demand gets crystallised conclusively when appeals, if any, before CIT(A), ITAT, High Court and Supreme Court are decided. Under the Black Money Act, 2015, it is mandatory for assesses to disclose all foreign assets and income in specified schedules while filing I-T returns. Any non-disclosure attracts a penalty. India receives information about foreign assets and income from over 100 foreign tax jurisdictions, Chaudhary added.
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Foreign black money law: Govt files 163 prosecution complaints; raises Rs 35,105 cr tax, fine demand
The government has levied over Rs 35,105 crore in tax and penalties and filed 163 prosecution complaints under the Black Money Act by March 31, 2025. Approximately Rs 338 crore has been recovered in tax, penalties, and interest between July 1, 2015, and March 31, 2025. Assessments of 1021 have been completed under the Act. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The government has raised tax and penalty demand of over Rs 35,105 crore and filed 163 prosecution complaints till March 31 under the foreign black money law , Parliament was informed on of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said under the Black Money ( Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, the government has recovered Rs 338 crore towards tax/penalty/interest between July 1, 2015 and March 31, 2025."Till March 31, 2025, 1021 assessments have been completed under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, raising tax and penalty demand of over Rs 35,105 crore approximately and total 163 prosecutions complaints have been filed," Chaudhary said in a written reply to Rajya tax demand gets crystallised conclusively when appeals, if any, before CIT(A), ITAT, High Court and Supreme Court are the Black Money Act, 2015, it is mandatory for assesses to disclose all foreign assets and income in specified schedules while filing I-T returns. Any non-disclosure attracts a receives information about foreign assets and income from over 100 foreign tax jurisdictions, Chaudhary added.
Economic Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Dubai homebuyers face legal troubles: ED summons and tax compliance issues
Indian authorities are investigating Dubai property purchases. Some buyers face notices from the Income Tax department and summons from the Enforcement Directorate. The ED is examining potential FEMA and PMLA violations. Issues include unreported fund transfers and cryptocurrency use. Residents must explain their source of funds. Illegal routes may lead to prosecution. The Black Money Act could impose penalties. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Woes multiply for some who had bought homes in Dubai. After notices from the Income Tax department (I-T) last year, they are now grappling with summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). They will have to explain to the ED why there are no records of bank fund transfers for the property acquisition. Most summons were issued in the North, sources told the regulations, money remittance for overseas capital account transactions like buying apartments and stocks, or booking FDs with an offshore bank must happen through banking if banks were not used, ED, acting on the data received from the I-T department, will examine possible violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).'ED is investigating a few cases of payments made by transferring crypto coins to builders' wallets. Also, there have been cases where ultra-rich residents had used credit cardswith no pre-set limits to buy properties or set up companies in the UAE Free Trade Zones. These violate FEMA Regulations,' said Anup P. Shah, partner PPS & Co., a tax and legal advisory firm.'A resident individual can do such transactions only under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). This involves remittance through an authorised dealer bank and submitting necessary forms and declarations,' he LRS, a resident individual can remit $250,000 a developers have been freely accepting cryptocurrencies — a practice that could face restrictions under a new crypto regime the Emirates is likely to moving cryptos, even those purchased with tax paid earnings in India, through a blockchain network to buy an asset abroad can be construed as a breach of FEMA — because, such peer-to-peer digital coin deals, from a resident's private wallet to that of a UAE realtor or broker, sidesteps ignorance of rules, such deals happen for different reasons: saving on banking and currency conversion charges; escaping the crippling crypto tax in India; preserving the LRS limit; or having earlier bought cryptos in an overseas exchange — a transaction most banks don't allow under LRS — some subsequently invested the cryptos in overseas properties which were not declare in I-T of Black Money Act & PMLA No one feared that Indian authorities would come to know about their Dubai homes because under the information sharing pacts, countries share only details of financial investments (like bank accounts and stock holdings) and not physical assets like properties. Their travails with the I-T department, and now with the ED, began after the tax office got hold of the data on UAE property ownership. Industry circles believe the information was not shared by the UAE but collected by Indian officials based in Dubai and brought to India through another of how the data was obtained, residents must now explain their source of funds. Under the Black Money law (relating to undisclosed foreign assets), the tax and penalty could be 120% of the property value. Transgressions of FEMA could mean extra outgo of one to three times the who bought properties by moving money to Dubai through illegal routes like the age-old hawala network could face prosecution under PMLA which would label the assets as 'proceeds of crime' — properties purchased with tainted money are also stained. Under PMLA there is no scope of compounding — the process of voluntarily admitting the contravention, pleading guilty and paying fine. 'A probe under PMLA will merit in cases where the I-T makes a case under the Black Money Act as it amounts to a scheduled offence,' said an official.
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delhi court declares arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari fugitive
New Delhi: A special court here on Saturday declared absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari a fugitive economic offender (FEO), finding force in the Enforcement Directorate 's (ED) case accusing him of money laundering . Significantly, the Court did not find "any substance" in the ground taken by Bhandari's counsel that since the UK High Court (in February) turned down the Indian government's extradition request , Bhandari has a right to reside in the UK. The court rejected the argument of Bhandari's counsel that the failure of India's extradition request in the UK High Court in February gave him the right to reside in the UK. "Extradition attempt may have failed, but it will not make the accused an angel or immune from prosecution for the violation of Indian laws," it observed in its detailed order. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like One of the Most Successful Investors of All Time, Warren Buffett, Recommends: 5 Books for Turning... Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Click Here Undo The court said it is "satisfied" that Bhandari - against whom a non-bailable warrant stands issued by a Delhi Court under the Black Money Act and who has committed schedule offence or offence(s) involving an amount of ₹100 crore or more - has left India to avoid criminal prosecution and that "he wilfully refuses" to return to face prosecution. "FEO proceedings are another way of making one come back to India to face trial by coercing him to return by attachment, confiscation of the properties of such fugitive economic offender and proceeds of crime and by dis-entitling such fugitive economic offender from putting forward or defending any civil claim," the order said. Live Events Bhandari "always has an option to return back to India to get the termination of proceedings under FEO Act and to avoid adverse consequences," it clarified. Therefore, when he chooses not to return, "he cannot take the plea of avoiding all the legal consequences including that of Section 14 of the FEO Act," the special court said.
Hindustan Times
05-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Delhi court declares arms middleman Sanjay Bhandari a fugitive economic offender
New Delhi: London-based arms middleman Sanjay Bhandari, wanted in multiple cases by the Indian agencies, was declared a 'fugitive economic offender' (FEO) by a Delhi court on Saturday based on a request by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a development which officials said will allow the federal agency to confiscate his properties anywhere in the world and bar him from filing or defending any civil proceedings in India. Sanjay Bhandari. (File Photo) The court ruled that extradition attempt of Indian agencies (for Bhandari) may have failed (a UK court earlier this year discharged him from extradition proceedings) but it doesn't make him 'angel or immune from the prosecution for the violation of Indian laws' and that FEO tag is another way of 'making one come back to India to face trial by coercing him to return by attachment, confiscation of the properties' and 'dis-entitling such fugitive economic offenders from putting forward or defending any civil claim.' Brought in by the government in 2018 to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, the FEO act empowers authorities to confiscate and attach proceeds of crimes and assets when the amount involved in the case is higher than ₹100 crore. Such attachment is not linked to conviction. Deciding ED's request under FEO, filed in 2019, special judge - Sanjeev Aggarwal - at the Tis Hazari court said in his judgement on Saturday - 'this court is satisfied that Sanjay Bhandari is a fugitive economic offender under section 12(1) of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 and is declared as such under the above provision(s) of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.' Asserting that Bhandari wilfully refuses to come to India to face criminal prosecution, the judge noted - 'this court is satisfied that the total value of the schedule offence is 100 crores or more i.e. the schedule to the present FEO Act which is Section 51 of the Black Money Act', which it added is a requisite condition for declaring an individual a FEO. With this order, a total of 16 people, including liquor baron Vijay Mallya and diamond trader Nirav Modi, have been declared fugitive economic offenders by different courts. Rejecting an argument of Bhandari that UK high court order makes him eligible to stay in London and therefore FEO won't apply to him, the judge Sanjeev Aggarwal said in his order on Saturday - 'The said argument is without any substance, as the extradition failure will not make any difference, as the extradition of the accused was one of the means to bring the accused to India to face trial in the said offence under Section 51 of the Black Money Act.' 'Extradition attempt may have failed, but it will not make accused angel or immune from the prosecution for the violation of Indian laws. The FEO proceedings are another way of making one come back to India to face trial by coercing him to return by attachment, confiscation of the properties of such fugitive economic offender and proceeds of crime and by dis-entitling such fugitive economic offender from putting forward or defending any civil claim. This is applicable to an individual, who has committed schedule offence or offence(s) involving an amount of ₹100 crores or more and who has absconded or refuses to come back to India to avoid criminal prosecution in India,' the court ruled, while adding that proceeds of crime in Bhandari's case are more than ₹100 crore. Bhandari's lawyer - senior advocate Maninder Singh - had argued that declaring him as fugitive economic offender entails very serious consequences including confiscation of his property and barring him from defending any civil claims, effectively amounting to economic death penalty. Dismissing this argument, the court said - 'Bhandari always has an option to return to India to get the termination of proceedings under FEO Act and to avoid adverse consequences of Section 14 of the FEO Act. Therefore, when he chooses not to return to India, he cannot take the plea of avoiding all the legal consequences including that of Section 14 of the FEO Act. In any case those who play with fire should be aware of its consequences.' According to ED and the Income Tax department, during the extradition proceedings, Bhandari had undisclosed foreign income worth ₹655 crore on which he evaded tax worth ₹196 crore. The middleman in defence deals deposited huge amounts of money in bank accounts of overseas shell companies and also invested in properties in the UAE and the UK (between 2009 and 2016). He has also been under investigation since 2019 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of corruption in a ₹2,985-crore deal in 2009 to procure 75 PC-7 trainer aircraft from Swiss plane maker Pilatus Aircraft and for allegedly laundering money for properties allegedly linked to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra in London, in which NRI businessman C C Thampi was arrested by ED in January 2020. It has also been probing Bhandari's links with Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He fled from India in 2016 via Nepal and an Interpol red notice was issued against him in October 2017. The Indian government sent two extradition requests against the fugitive businessman under money laundering and black money act which were certified by the then UK home secretary Priti Patel in June 2020, after which, British authorities arrested him on July 15, 2020. A court, however, released him on bail pending extradition proceedings. A Westminster court subsequently ordered his extradition to India in November 2022 but he challenged this in the high court. The UK high court, on February 28 this year, discharged him in the extradition request and an appeal filed by Indian government against it was rejected on April 4.
