Rs 3,770 crore disclosed under Black Money Window

The amount of foreign assets disclosed under the limited window of the Black Money Act is a paltry Rs 3,770 crore as of mid-night of September 30, the last day of the disclosure window. A total of 638 declarations were received under the compliance window, said a press statement from the Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT).

This is much below what the government had expected, and is almost one-tenth of what the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) in 1997 had achieved. Under VDIS, the then government had received declaration worth Rs 33,000 crore, and revenue of Rs 10,000 crore. The VDIS scheme was for meant both foreign and domestic black money.

A 60 per cent tax would be levied on the disclosed amount, which means the government would earn revenue of around Rs 2,300 crore. The tax on the disclosed amount can be paid till 31st December 2015.

Almost every tax experts had predicted a lukewarm response to the disclosure window owing to many practical issues facing the asset owners and a very high tax rate of 60 per cent.

In a recent conference on Black money Act, V Anandrajan, joint secretary, CBDT has admitted muted response to the disclosure window owing to high tax rate.