The Ministry of Finance said the Income Tax Department has rejected two sets of declarations of Rs. 2,00,000 crore, and Rs. 13,860 crore made under the Income Declaration Scheme made from Mumbai and Ahmedabad, respectively, after an inquiry found that declarants were ‘persons of suspicious nature’ and ‘very small means’ and the declarations could have been misused.
The declaration of Rs. 2 lakh crore was made by the Sayed family of four from Mumbai, and the declaration of Rs. 13,860 crore was made by Maheshkumar Champaklal Shah, a resident of Ahmedabad.
In a statement, the Income-Tax department said, “The Department has commenced enquiries against these declarants to determine the intention behind these false declarations.”
The department had not taken on record these two sets of declarations after finding these to be suspicious and filed by persons of small means.
The family of four — Abdul Razzaque Mohammed Sayed, his son Mohammed Aarif Abdul Razzaque Sayed, wife Rukhsana Abdul Razzaque Sayed and sister Noorjahan Mohammed Sayed, are residents of Bandra.
The declaration of Sayeds is thrice the total amount of Rs. 65,250 crore declared under the Income Disclosure Scheme, formed to flush out black money. The scheme, which closed on September 30, provides immunity to those who declare hidden income and pay 45 per cent of the declared amount as tax, surcharge and penalty.
They were shown as residents of Bandra (W), Mumbai. “Three out of the four PAN numbers were originally from Ajmer which were migrated to Mumbai in September 2016, where the declarations were filed,” the I-T department said.
The other declaration was filed by one Maheshkumar Champaklal Shah, a resident Jodhpur Gram Satellite, Ahmedabad, for an amount of Rs. 13,860 crore. The department has commenced inquiries against these declarants to determine the intention behind these false declarations, the statement added.
The declarations were made under an Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), which was announced in the budget under which declaration of undisclosed income or asset could be made by agreeing to pay 45 percent of the declared amount as tax, surcharge and penalty. The scheme closed on September 30.
An Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) had been announced in the Union Budget 2016-17, under which declaration of undisclosed income or assets could be made by agreeing to pay forty five percent (45%) of the declared amount as tax, surcharge and penalty.
