By being tax informant you can become crorepati: Know how
The Income Tax Department has announced three reward schemes under which anyone providing information to the department about the unaccounted wealth of Indians can win a reward of up to Rs. 5cr. Further, the department has assured to maintain full confidentiality of the whistle-blowers for all the reward schemes. Here are all the details regarding how you can win these rewards.
Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018
Under this scheme, you can win a reward of up to Rs. 1cr by equipping the Joint or Additional Commissioners with specific details about a benami transaction or property. Please note that the information should include credible property details, name and address of the person in whose name it is being held, along with an evidence that the property is being held through proxies.
What is a 'Benami' property?
Benami property means an asset bought by an individual but not disclosed under his/her name. Properties held jointly with relatives or held in the name of the individual's spouse/child and for which money has been paid from undisclosed income sources, also fall under this category.
Income Tax Informants Reward Scheme, 2018
Under this scheme, you can claim a reward up to Rs. 50 lakh if you provide the department with information related to substantial evasion of tax on income or assets. The scheme is an amended version of the earlier reward scheme which was issued in 2007. Please note that tax evasion must be actionable under The Income Tax Act, 1961.
Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act
Further, the government introduced a reward of up to Rs. 5cr under Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act for reporting unaccounted wealth of Indians in foreign countries. Though there's no exact figure on the total Indian black money hoarded in foreign countries but you can imagine how big that corpus could be when just the Swiss banks hold Rs. 8,392cr Indian money.
How can you contact the IT department officials?
To report any information related to undisclosed wealth in India, an individual including foreigners, can contact the officials at Central Board Direct Tax, North Block, New Delhi. You can also contact the I-T department by sending an email to member.inv@incometax.gov.in. Happy whistleblowing!
