Five years after demonetisation, which sought to curb black money and reduce cash circulation in the economy, 70 per cent of respondents said they paid a large component of the total payment towards a real estate transaction in cash. About 16 per cent said they paid over half the amount in cash, observes Shyamal Majumdar.
Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to 2.55 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 20,700 crore) in 2020 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments, though customer deposits fell, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. The increase in aggregate funds of Indian clients with Swiss banks, from 899 million Swiss francs (Rs 6,625 crore) at the end of 2019, reverses a two-year declining trend and has taken the figure to the highest level in 13 years. It stood at a record high of nearly 6.5 billion Swiss francs in 2006, after which it has been mostly on a downward path, except for a few years including in 2011, 2013 and 2017, as per the Swiss National Bank (SNB) data.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Saheb" during a discussion on the government's resolution on good works in the Delhi assembly's special session, Kejriwal said the nation is not with him in his "theatrics".
Jain, 57, is the minister for health, power, home, PWD, industries, urban development, flood, irrigation and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
The government is exploring legal options, including bringing an Ordinance, to tackle the problem of income-tax litigation on reassessment notices under old, time-barred norms, according to official sources. This has come in the wake of writ petitions filed by companies and individuals in recent weeks to challenge the validity of the notices issued by the tax department between April 1 and June 30 and under the old norms.
Terming demonetisation as a historic and brave step, he said, black money constitutes 80-85 per cent of the economy and Modiji has taken bold step to solve the issue
Hamza was re-elected to the post by just three votes amidst high drama.
What is the wider political strategy behind Mr Modi's concerted attack on black money, asks Subir Roy.
At present, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, covers only resident Indians. The Finance Bill has expanded the definition of assessees to include NRIs.
Since arraignment under money laundering is a tougher offence, the CBDT hopes it will also overcome its dismal score sheet to prove satisfactorily to the courts that these cases were genuine ones of tax evasion.
The speed at which he led the central bank in different areas -- ranging from internal reorganisation to inflation fighting, stabilising the currency, taking on rogue corporations, cleaning up bank balance sheets, and opening the sector -- makes one believe that Rajan knew he had only three years to do his job. A fascinating excerpt from Tamal Bandyopadhyay's MUST-READ Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
'How can you ask the common man alone to suffer when the rich is not doing any sacrifice?' 'To take out 10% of black money, you are punishing 90% of the public who have genuine white money.'
Union ministers fanned out across the country to highlight the crackdown on black money to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation on Wednesday which the Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated as "Anti Black Money Day" while the Congress-led Opposition observed it as "Black Day" with street protests.
Gandhi said, "Modi talked about bringing back black money from abroad and putting Rs 15 lakh in each Indian's bank account. I ask why Mallya and Lalit Modi are still abroad then."
Chidambaram mocked her with a tongue-in-cheek tweet.
Marking a key milestone in the Indian government's fight against black money allegedly stashed abroad, India will get this month the complete information on flats, apartments and condominiums owned by Indians in Switzerland as also on earnings made from such properties to help it look into tax liabilities associated with those assets.
Escalating the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused him of dividing the country between the rich and the poor and dubbed the move as "firebombing" on cash economy and farmers and labourers.
'In the coming months, expect more government action that will be packaged as an assault on black money,' warns A K Bhattacharya.
Latest data from the Swiss National Bank showed that money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to CHF 1.01 billion
Govt effort to curb black money in polls futile if identity of donors not known, says SC.
'We have not hijacked the party, the NCP and the Congress have hijacked it'
'The execution has been 100 per cent faulty.' 'The scheme is also a stupid one, a real Tuglaq Darbar scheme.' 'This way of attacking black money is the most ineffective one.'
Two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp has denied the report of the IT Department finding Rs 1,000 crore false expense claims, saying it is speculative. The company said officials from the Income Tax department visited its offices in the previous week, and it has provided all support and cooperation, necessary documents and data to the authorities and will continue to do so if required. "The allegations made in the press report are not borne out of any documents that have been served on us or our internal documents.
Swiss authorities have always maintained that assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland cannot be considered as 'black money' and they actively support India in its fight against tax fraud and evasion.
The biggest achievement of demonetisation is that it has brought about a social revolution against black money and corruption, says Sukumar Mukhopadhyay.
ED sought his custody for seven days, claiming it had knowledge of unidentified assets which value more than Rs 500 crore and his custodial interrogation was required.
'How does one square up the fact that despite the infusion of money at election time there was no price rise?' 'It is time the new government ordered an external audit of the RBI to find out the truth,' says Col Anil Athale.
Olympic bronze-medallist boxer and Rajya Sabha MP M C Mary Kom supported the government's decision to demonetise 500 and 1000 rupee notes, saying the move will stall the juggernaut of corruption.
'This is not Ahmedabad Gymkhana but people's house'
CEC Sunil Arora will meet former heads of Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Friday to discuss ways to keep a check on black money disbursements in South India, especially Tamil Nadu.
With the Modi government facing the arduous task of fulfilling its promise of getting back black money stashed abroad, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Friday said all amounts deposited in foreign banks by Indian citizens can't be termed as black money and that it is not a crime to open such accounts.
Apart from Modi, Jaggi Vasudev to address 2-day tax officers' conference
While some criticise the government, others, despite the inconvenience, hail demonetisation as revolutionary.
Some initial reactions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes with effect from midnight.
'If the Modi government is successful in extraditing a high-profile fugitive such as Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi before the 2019 election, the government will be able to link demonetisation to this and turn it into a positive.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement about demonetising Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes was hailed as a "bold step" by President Pranab Mukherjee and the BJP, which called it a "surgical strike" on black money, but his rivals denounced it as a "heartless and ill-conceived" decision that would inconvenience people.
"The response (to the PMGKY) has not been so good...about Rs 5,000 crore of income was declared in PMGKY," Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said.
He said his party wants to eradicate corruption and if "Modiji takes any step against the menace, the Congress party will lend its hundred per cent support".
"Post demonetisation, during November 9, 2016, to January 10, 2017, more than 1,100 searches and surveys were conducted and more than 5,100 notices were issued by the income tax department for verification of suspicious high-value cash deposits," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Power Minister Piyush Goyal, who spoke on behalf of the ruling side after Congress leader Anand Sharma slammed the government, rejected as baseless the opposition charge that there was "leakage" of the decision and said everyone was taken by surprise which is why there are "initial" problems.
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