TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Stepping up probe into the Panama Papers, the Income Tax Department has slapped criminal charges under the new anti-black money Act and launched fresh assessment of stashed offshore income against over half-a- dozen Indian entities in the list, official sources said.
They said the department has detected undisclosed assets and stashed funds located in foreign countries in case of seven individuals and entities named in the leaks and the taxman has begun investigations against them under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
Sources privy to the probe said the tax department has ordered fresh assessment and also re-assessment of the income of these entities and will soon launch criminal prosecution against all of them as the entities had allegedly not disclosed offshore properties to Indian tax and banking authorities in the past.
These are the first set of cases of undisclosed foreign assets which are being probed under the new anti-black money Act, that has criminal sections for prosecution under the law. Under the new anti-black money law cases of overseas illegal assets, which till recently were probed under the regular and civil Income Tax Act of 1961, attract a steep 120 per cent tax and penalty on undisclosed foreign assets and income besides carrying a jail term of up to 10 years.
