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Jan 24, 2022
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Record Rs 32,000 Crore Seized in Tax Raids
The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has set a record for search operations against 'undisclosed income' in FY22.
With two months and a week left until the end of the fiscal year, the total 'undisclosed income' as per publicly available data is about Rs 32,000 crore (Rs 320 billion), far eclipsing the level set in FY19, when it was just under Rs 18,600 crore (Rs 186 billion).
Read it along with the expanded 'predicate offences' powers of its brother department, the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The figures reflect the expanded powers the tax department has amassed in a relatively short period.
It began with the Finance Act of 2015, when the government brought in the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
The penal provisions of the Act connect with those of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which meant that any evidence of foreign income that was not taxed would qualify as an offence of money laundering.
In rapid succession came the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act of 2016 and then the Finance Act of 2017 that connected PAN numbers with Aadhaar.
The Finance Act of 2017 also removed the need for tax officials to declare to a court why they believe a search operation on someone is necessary.
Next year's Finance Act disallowed the scope for tax offenders under Benami or Black Money law to pay a higher penalty and get away.
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