PMGKY Disclosures: 21,000 People Declare Rs 4,900 Crore Black Money

Black money amounting to Rs 4,900 crore has been declared by 21,000 individuals under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), said officials of the Finance Ministry.

The government’s amnesty scheme for undisclosed income was operational from 16 December 2016 to 31 March 2017.

The Income Tax department is now following up with the legal process with the declarants.

The Yojana was launched post-demonetisation to allow people to declare undisclosed income and pay a penalty of 50 per cent of the amount. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had said that the response to the scheme was unsatisfactory. On the other hand, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that since the government had launched similar amnesty schemes earlier, the response to PMGKY should not be looked at individually.

The government had launched the Income Declaration Scheme in 2016 to allow income tax offenders to come clean and pay a penalty of 45 per cent. It was operational between 1 June and 31 September 2016, during which time 71,726 people declared undisclosed income worth Rs 67,382 crore.