The salient features and provisions of the new Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) 2016 were explained to a cross-section of city residents by senior officials of the Income Tax Department here on Thursday.
At an awareness meeting organised here by the office of the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Tiruchi, the officers exhorted all those who had not declared their income correctly in the past to come forward and declare such undisclosed income by making use of the IDS. Introduced by the Union government, the scheme would be in force for four months from June 1 to September 30 for filing declaration.
Susie B. Varghese, Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Tiruchi, said the IDS was a voluntary compliance window to declare undisclosed income. One of the purposes of the scheme was to get immunity from prosecution and penalty.
The voluntary declaration could be made either to the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax or the Commissioner, she said and added that confidentiality would be maintained. The Centre was committed to widening tax base and curb black money, she said and urged the defaulters to take advantage of the IDS.
A presentation on the IDS was made by Income Tax officers to the participants highlighting the purposes of the scheme; manner of declaration; rate of tax and surcharge.
They elaborated to whom the scheme would not apply such as those against whom prosecution proceedings were pending under Unlawful Activities Act, Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act, Prevention of Corruption Act and those against whom an order of detention had been made under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974.
