Black money chase: Cap on Cash-in hand at Rs 10 lakh, buys over Rs 1 lakh needs PAN

In a bid to check unaccounted wealth in the economy, the Income Tax Department is working on a number of measures which include capping the amount of money one can keep it home, as well as making it mandatory to furnish PAN cards in case of high-value purchases. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, taxmen will slap a hefty penalty if unaccounted cash in excess of Rs 10 lakh is recovered from one’s home while the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex board for direct tax collection, also wants PAN to be mandatory for purchases of Rs 1 lakh and above. The government also might institute a “Know Your Customer” (KYC) database to store your PAN card, Aadhaar, and other address proof details (passport number, driving licence number, etc). Making them mandatory allows tax authorities to engage in extensive data mining. [caption id=“attachment_1615035” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The measures are part of the recommendations made by the Special Investigation Team, that has been formed to suggest measures to stop the spread of black money, to the SC in December. The apex court had appointed a SIT to conduct a through investigation into black money stashed abroad. In its suggestions, SIT had also recommended amendment of laws to provide for confiscation of domestic property of those with illicit assets abroad and making tax evasion of over Rs 50 lakh a ‘predicate offence’ taking it as a serious crime. SIT also flagged existence of black money in mining, ponzi scheme and iron ore exports as well as money couriers, called ‘angadias’, dealing in huge sums of money outside the banking system. The SIT said that making tax evasion of Rs 50 lakh or more a ‘predicate offence’ would allow necessary action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ( PMLA). The SIT also found that the common pattern in the cases was that entry operators facilitated the transfer of money through dubious transactions, and shell companies put the black money into formal banking channels, which was later invested. Meanwhile, the Income Tax department has also set up a toll-free control room for the general public to alert it about any suspicious movement of “large sums of cash” in the national capital in the run up to the Assembly polls. The toll-free number–1800110132– will be monitored round-the-clock and will be supervised by a senior officer in the rank of Joint Director (I-T). The department has also put together a team of chosen sleuths who will be monitoring black money related instances with special emphasis on the measures deployed for the election period. Complaints or information regarding movement of large sums of cash and other items suspected to be used for bribing voters during elections will be monitored from the Centre. with inputs from PTI