I-T dept warns against cash deals of Rs 2 lakh or more

The Income Tax (I-T) Department on Friday sought tip-offs on cash dealings of Rs 2 lakh or more. Issuing an advertisement in leading dailies, it asked people having knowledge of such dealings to tip-off the tax department by sending an email to [e-mail]. It warned those engaging in cash transactions of Rs 2 lakh or more, saying anyone found violating the norms will have to pay an equal amount as penalty.

The move by the I-T department comes days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said those dealing in unaccounted cash will not be safe.

From April 1, 2017, cash transactions of Rs 2 lakh or more stood banned after the enactment of the Finance Act 2017. The newly inserted section 269ST in the Income Tax Act bans such cash dealings on a single day, in respect of a single transaction or transactions relating to one event or occasion from an individual.
“Contravention of Section 269ST would entail levy of 100% penalty on the receiver of the amount,” the department said.

In the 2017-18 budget, Jaitley had proposed to ban cash transactions of over Rs 3 lakh. This limit was lowered to Rs 2 lakh as an amendment to the Finance Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in March.

The restriction is not applicable to any receipt by the government, banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank, the department said.

The government had come out with a tax amnesty scheme —Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) — under which people holding unaccounted cash could come clean by declaring their wealth and pay 50% as tax and penalty.

However, a day ago, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia admitted that the response to PMGKY “has not been so good” as only Rs 5,000 crore unaccounted income was declared under the scheme.
DH News Service