According to the Hindu report, the Income Tax (I-T) Department has seized assets worth Rs 6,900 crore till now as part of its action under the anti-Benami transactions law, the watchdog agency stated in a public advertisement on Tuesday.
According to Benami Property Act, a property bought by an individual, not under his/her name (or family’s name) is benami property which includes buying assets of any kind — movable, immovable, tangible, intangible, any right or interest, or legal documents. This property includes properties which are bought in the name of spouse, brother, sister, children for which money is paid from unknown sources of income. In most of the cases, black money is used to buy benami property and the real owner reaps the benefits of this property while the person in whose name the property is purchased holds no power over it. Interestingly, sometimes even the ‘owner’ remains unknown to the fact that there exists a property in his/her name.
Since November 1, 2016, I-T Department has started taking action against benami property holders and according to the report, it has confiscated properties worth Rs 6,900 crore since then.
Earlier, in 2017, Modi government made various amendments to Benami property act, 2016. Aadhaar was made mandatory for registration. Since coming to power in 2014, the Modi government has taken various steps to promote digital transactions. The government has promoted digital transactions as it helps in tracing the transaction if it exceeds the prescribed limit. And hence, the government finds itself able to tax the transaction. Digital transactions are highly profitable for the economy, and most of the developed nations have a very low share of cash transactions.
Not only that, along with the amendment in the Benami property act, 2016, Modi government took the monumental decision of demonetization to crack down on black money. Demonetization proved effective in many ways as it widened the tax base, increased the digital transaction exponentially and curbed the cash hoarding. According to Economic Survey 2018, 10.1 million people filed income tax returns in the year following demonetization (November 2016- November 2017), while the average for the previous six years remained 6.2 million. This shows an increase of over 1.5 times than the previous number of income tax returns filed. It should be noted here that in the post-demonetization period, there has been a sense of fear among tax evaders, which is evident from the increased number of tax filers in the period following the decision.
Earlier, in order to launch a crackdown on benami property holders, the government had announced a scheme named Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018 which promises to give a personal reward of up to Rs 1 crore for giving specific information about benami properties and transactions in a prescribed manner.
The way I-T department has functioned is suggestive of Modi government’s tough stand against corruption. It clearly shows the seriousness of the NDA government when it comes to tackling black money, benami property or any other illegal means of escaping tax. The widened tax base which is a result of the reformative measures of the Modi government is set to help in the financing of public services like health, education, and infrastructure.