In the midst of disruptions and adjournments, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill that seeks to tax money deposited in bank accounts post demonetisation.
The Taxation Laws (2nd Amendment) Bill 2016 was passed in the Lower House of Parliament without any debate, provoking strong protests from Opposition leaders.
“I urge the House to accept the amendments,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while moving the Bill for passing, adding that the Bill will enable the government to implement schemes like the Garib Kalyan Kosh.
The new amendment Bill will entail a tax of 30 per cent of the income declared, an additional surcharge of 33 per cent of the tax amount, and a penalty of 10 per cent of the declared income. This adds up to a total liability of about 50 per cent. In addition, the amendment states that 25 per cent of the declared income is to be deposited in an interest-free deposit scheme with a lock-in of four years.
If undeclared, then the unexplained amount will face a flat tax of 60 per cent, a surcharge of 25 per cent of the tax amount, and a possible 10 per cent penalty at the discretion of the assessing officer. This takes the total levy on undeclared income or assets to as much as 85 per cent.
Only two amendments — by N.K. Premchandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and B. Mahtab of the Biju Janata Dal — were allowed. However, while Mr Premchandran refused to move the amendment as he was shouting slogans, Mr Mahtab’s amendment was negated by a voice vote.
Amid protests by several Opposition members, the Lok Sabha was adjourned four times on Tuesday. Soon after Question Hour began, the Opposition began raising slogans owing to which the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 11:30 a.m. After a series of interruptions, Ms Mahajan requested those gathered in the Well of the House to return to their seats. “What are you doing is not fair,” she said. The Lok Sabha was then adjourned for the second time till noon.
As the Zero Hour commenced, the Speaker noted that notices of adjournment motion on various issues had been received from various members of the Opposition. Observing that the matters though important did not warrant interruption of the business of the day and the issues could be raised through other opportunities, the Speaker disallowed all the notices.
Minutes later, following continued interruptions, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha again till 2 p.m.
