Pay 50% tax on unaccounted deposits, or 85% if caught: Govt

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Providing yet another opportunity to black money holders to legalise their wealth, government has proposed to tax at 50 per cent the unaccounted demonetised cash that is disclosed voluntarily till December 30, after which a steep up to 85 per cent tax and penalty will be levied on undisclosed wealth that is discovered by authorities.

The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced on Monday in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, nearly three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned high denomination currency notes, also provides for immunity from being questioned on the source of funds.

It amends the Income Tax Act to also provide for black money declarants having to mandatorily park 25 per cent of that wealth in zero-interest, four-year-no-withdrawal scheme.

Introduced amid opposition uproar over hardships caused by demonetisation, the Bill proposes a Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana 2016 wherein the unaccounted, now banned 500 and 1000 rupee notes, deposited in banks between November 10 and December 30, will be taxed at 30 per cent plus a 10 per cent penalty. A 33 per cent surcharge on the tax will take the total levy to 50 per cent.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told the media later that "the disclosures in PMGKY scheme will ensure that no questions will be asked about the source of fund. It would ensure immunity from Wealth Tax, civil laws and other taxation laws.

But there is no immunity from FEMA, PMLA, Narcotics, and Black Money Act".

The Bill proposes to amend Section 115BBE of the Income Tax Act to provide for a steep 60 per cent tax and a 25 per cent surcharge on it (total 75 per cent) for black money holders who choose to disclose after PMGKY ends.

Another section inserted provides for an additional 10 per cent penalty on being established that the undeclared wealth is unaccounted or black money, taking the total incidence of levies to 85 per cent.

The scheme comes within two months of the close of domestic black money disclosure scheme wherein the total incidence of tax was 45 per cent. A total of Rs 65,250 crore in black money was brought to book by the close of the scheme on September 30.

"We have seen that some people were trying to convert black money to black again by using new currency," Adhia said adding that the provision has been amended to bring 75-85 per cent tax.

It proposes to make penalty provisions for wealth found during search and seizures more stringent by raising the fines to 30 per cent of the income discovered which is admitted by the assessee and taxes are paid.

This compares to levy of 10 per cent in such cases income admitted, returned and taxes paid and 20 per cent where income is not admitted but taxes are paid. In all other cases the levy remains at 60 per cent.

The current provisions of penalty on under-reporting of income at 50 per cent of the tax, and misreporting (200 per cent of tax) will remain and no changes are being made to them.

Trump claims 'millions voted illegally' cost him popular vote

Washington, Nov 28 (PTI) In an unprecedented move, US President-elect Donald Trump today alleged that "millions of people" voted illegally for Hillary Clinton that prevented him from winning the popular vote too, threatening a truce between them after their bitter White House race.

Trump, who offered no evidence for his claims, said that he would have won the popular votes in the US general election "if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally".

"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," Trump said in a first of the series of tweets.

He alleged that serious voter fraud were committed in three States of Virginia, New Hampshire and California where he lost.

The allegation by Trump, who won the required votes in the Electoral College to secure the presidency, comes as Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote over Trump has surpassed 2.0 million votes and is expected to grow to more than 2.5 million as ballots in populous states such as California continue to be tallied.

Clinton has 232 electoral college votes in her kitty as against 270 required to be declared as elected.

The Republican billionaire's allegations came as steps are being taken towards recounting of votes in the swing state of Wisconsin, which Trump won.

Earlier he described an impending recount of votes in Wisconsin as a "scam" and said the results of the presidential election should be respected instead of being challenged or "abused".

"It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4- - states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!" Trump said in another tweet.

Soon he fired another tweet alleging voters fraud in three States. "Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!" Trump said. .

KLF chief nabbed hours after escape from Punjab jail

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) In a swift operation, chief of Khalistan Liberation Front militant outfit Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested here last night within hours of his escape from Nabha jail in Punjab, with Delhi Police saying he was planning to flee abroad, to Malaysia or Germany.

However, high alert continued in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi as about 12 armed dreaded fugitives are still at large.

Two cars used by them in the escape have been found in Haryana's Kaithal district.

48-year-old Mintoo was nabbed from Nizamuddin railway station's parking area, marking the second arrest in the sensational jailbreak case of yesterday morning in which 8 people stormed the prison to free six inmates -- two militants and four dreaded criminals.

Earlier, Parminder alias Penda was arrested yesterday in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, few hours after the jailbreak.

Mintoo, accused in 10 terror cases, was in touch with terror groups in Pakistan, Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora said.

Harminder was carrying a sophisticated semi-automatic pistol along with six live cartridges when he was arrested, Arvind Deep, Special Commissioner of Delhi Police's Special Cell, told reporters here today.

"He had bought a (train) ticket for Panvel and from there he had plans to go to Mumbai and then to Goa. He had good contacts in Goa since he had stayed there for 18 years from 1989 to 2007," Deep said while giving details of the arrest effected nearly 200 km from the scene of the crime.

Finally, Harminder planned to flee to Germany or Malaysia, where he had good contacts since he had stayed there, police sources said.

He was produced before a court here which sent him to seven days' police custody.

During interrogation, Harminder said the jailbreak was under planning for the last six months and its masterminds and executors were Gurpreet Singh Sekhon and Harjinder Singh who are members of a criminal gang, said DCP (Special Cell) P S Kushwah. .

SBI expects RBI nod on merger of associate banks soon

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) State Bank of India (SBI) expects to soon receive RBI's approval for the detailed merger plan of its associate banks.

The detailed merger plan, including financial implications, HR and asset-liability issues are being vetted by the RBI, sources said, adding that the approval from the central bank is expected anytime soon.

The scheme of acquisition of all five associates along with the Report of the Expert Committee have been submitted to RBI for approval, sources said.

Upon approval, RBI will submit the scheme of acquisition as approved by it to the Government of India for approval and issue of order of acquisition.

Meanwhile, SBI has started the process of change of account number due to proposed merger of associate banks.

Earlier this year, the government cleared the proposal to merge SBI with its five associate banks -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad -- and the new Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB).

In August, SBI had said that all its associate banks along with BMB will be merged into it and that will add an additional Rs 8 lakh crore to its assets, making it a banking behemoth with total assets of Rs 30 lakh crore, an increase of about 36 per cent.

With the merger of all the five associates and BMB, SBI will become a global-sized bank and could compete with the largest in the world, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers.

SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices spread across 36 countries.

SBI has already merged two of its associates -- State Bank of Saurashtra in 2008 and State Bank of Indore in 2010 -- with itself.

Last week, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said that the merger of associate banks with SBI itself is on track and remains unaffected by the demonetisation move.

Sindhu enters semis, Saina bows out of Hong Kong Super Series

Kowloon (Hong Kong), Nov 25 (PTI) Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu entered the semifinals of the Hong Kong Super Series after posting a hard-fought victory over Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang even as Saina Nehwal bowed out here today.

Had the former World No. 1 and London Olympics bronze medallist Saina won her match, she would have met Sindhu in an all Indian battle in the semifinals.

The only time Saina and Sindhu clashed at the international circuit was at the 2014 India Grand Prix gold tournament and it was the senior shuttler who had the last laugh in a two-game match.

Earlier today, Sindhu, who clinched the China Open last week, staved off a stiff challenge from Xiaoyu Liang 21-17 21-23 21-18 in a quarterfinal match that lasted an hour and 19 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Fifth-seeded Saina, meanwhile, failed to cross the hurdle as she was stunned by unseeded local shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi 8-21 21-18 19-21 in a contest that lasted an hour and 11 minutes. The Indian had earlier beaten Cheung Ngan Yi at the World Championships last year.

In the latest BWF rankings, Sindhu has jumped two places, courtesy her China Open win, to grab the ninth spot, while Saina, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a serious injury, slipped five places to 11th, owing to her first round exit at the same event.

In the Destinational Dubai ranking for the BWF Super Series Final, Sindhu (38,490) is ahead of Saina (38,080) by a few points.

Hence, when the rankings come out next week, Sindhu is likely to qualify for the prestigious tournament, to be held next month.

SC to hear all pleas against demonetisation on Dec 2

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) In a breather to the Centre, the Supreme Court today agreed to hear on Decemeber 2 the pleas, including those pending in various High Courts, challenging the constitutional validity of its decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 and the inconvenience faced by common people due to it.

The bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur did not accept the submission of a battery of lawyers led by Kapil Sibal that the hearing of the petitions, pending in the apex court against demonetisation, be started on November 29 instead of December 2.

"The issues are entirely different here from those (petitions pending in HCs)," Sibal said, adding that the constitutional validity of the demonetisation notification has been challenged besides the issue of hardships faced by common people, farmers and traders.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, said besides the matters pending in the apex court, there are as many as 24 petitions, as of now, in various High Courts and let there be a common hearing on December 2 when it can be decided whether this court or the Delhi High Court would take them up.

He also referred to the scheduled hearing on December 2 when the issue of transferring the HC cases either to the apex court or to one of the High Courts would come up.

"We will examine both the aspects (of inconvenience and constitutional validity of notification). Come on Friday at 2.00 pm," the bench, also comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, said and asked the Centre to file an additional affidavit, if any, explaining the "schemes and steps" taken to ease the situation that has arisen due to demonetisation.

As soon as the hearing began, many advocates started arguing simultaneously attempting to highlight issues raised in their respective PILs.

Irked over the commotion, the court said, "Let there be some order in the courtroom. All of you are speaking at one time. We will then adjourn the hearing by six weeks." 

The bench then asked the lawyers appearing for petitioners to decide among themselves as to who will address the court.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the CPM which has filed the plea on the issue, said Sibal will lead them and he would only "supplement".

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court, has made clear that it will not go into the correctness of demonetisation policy as the apex court is already seized of it.

Unaccounted deposits to attract 50% tax, 4 yr lock-in period

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) A minimum of 50 per cent tax may be levied on unexplained bank deposits made using the banned currency notes up to December 30 along with a 4-year lock in period for half of the remaining amount under the amendments to tax law the government plans to bring in Parliament shortly.

However, a higher 90 per cent tax and penalty could be imposed if assessees do not declare the unaccounted cash voluntarily.

Cash deposits made using the scrapped 500 and 1000 rupee notes above a threshold that are declared to Income Tax authorities may attract 50 per cent tax, as per the amendment to the Income Tax Act approved by the Cabinet last night.

Half of remaining deposits, or 25 per cent of the original deposit, will not be allowed to be withdrawn for four years, top sources said.

In case such deposits are not declared and are detected by tax authorities, a total of 90 per cent tax and penalty would be charged, they said.

The government had after the shock demonetisation, given a 50-day window beginning November 10 for either depositing the 500 and 1000 rupee notes in circulation or exchanging them for new currency.

While the exchange, which was limited to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per person, has been withdrawn, all old notes without any ceiling can be deposited in bank accounts.

This, sources said, had led to a surge in bank deposits, particularly in zero-balance Jan Dhan accounts that swelled by over Rs 21,000 crore in just two weeks, raising suspicion that these accounts may have been used to launder black money.

While the tax authorities had talked of levying a peak rate of tax and 200 per cent penalty on top of it for any unexplained deposit above Rs 2.5 lakh during November 10 to December 30 period, it was felt that such a move may not have legal backing.

To plug those loopholes, the Cabinet is believed to have yesterday approved amending the Income Tax Act by adding a clause in one of the sections to provide for the tax on an unexplained income during the window, sources said.

The government plans to bring the amendment for approval during the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

Sources said the demonetisation was a big step to uproot black money and corruption but its very purpose would have been defeated if the ill-gotten wealth made way into the system through benami deposits.

And taxing them was a way to punish dishonest people.

The tax rate however cannot be the same as charged to honest tax payers. It also could not be the 45 per cent tax and penalty charged on hereto undisclosed wealth brought to books using a one-time compliance window under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) that ended on September 30.

Sources said since the black money holder did not utilise the government offer to declare his ill-gotten wealth, he should pay a higher rate of tax now and curbs placed on use of that money. .

Saina, Sindhu enter quarters of Hong Kong Open

Kowloon, Nov 24 (PTI) Newly-crowned China Open champion P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Open Super Series tournament on a fruitful day for Indian shuttlers here.

Sindhu, who bagged her maiden Super Series Premier title last week at the China Open just months after winning the silver at Rio Olympics, trounced Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10 21-14, while Saina dished out a gruelling performance against Japan's Sayaka Sato to edge prevail 21-18 9-21 21-16.

Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, Sindhu will next take on Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang, while fifth seed Saina, who is on her comeback trail after recovering from a serious knee injury, will meet Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi.

In the men's singles, Ajay Jayaram beat China's Huang Yuxiang 21-18 21-19, while National champion Sameer Verma eked out a 19-21 21-15 21-11 win over Japan's Kazumasa Sakai in another match.

Jayaram will take on local hope Ng Ka Long Angus, while Sameer will face malaysian qualifier Chong Wei Feng.

However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for H S Prannoy, who suffered a 21-15 11-21 15-21 loss against Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng.

India asks Pak to stem "terror rot"

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) India today reacted strongly to reports of Pakistan setting up a special group to "expose" New Delhi's alleged atrocities in Kashmir, saying it should focus its energies on "stemming the rot of terrorism instead of expending its breath" in making baseless charges.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also took a dig at Pakistan Prime Minister's foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz for his remarks that Islamabad would reach out to Indians who are opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "extremist policies", saying probably he has not anticipated the kind of reception he may recieve from them.

"Pakistan would be well advised to focus its energies on stemming the rot of terrorism instead of expending its breath in making baseless allegations. He (Aziz) would be well advised to rather woo Pakistanis to end his government s policy of state sponsorship of terrorism," Swarup said.

He was reacting to reports quoting Aziz as saying that Pakistan has set up a high-level committee to formulate "a doable and sustainable" policy to highlight the Kashmir issue globally and is reaching out to Indians who are opposed to Modi's "extremist policies".

Swarup also gave details of the demarche issued to Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner yesterday over the killing of its three soldiers.

He said India strongly deplored the tacit support of the Pakistani army to armed terrorists that came from close to that country's army posts on 22 November, 2016, and targeted an Indian patrol near the Line of Control in Machhal Sector opposite Pakistan s Kel Sector. Three Indian soldiers were killed in the ambush and the body of one of them was inhumanly mutilitated, the MEA spokesperson said.

The government also conveyed its grave concern at the continued attempts to infiltrate armed terrorists from across the LoC to target Indian posts and patrols.

"During the last week alone, there have been 15 instances when terrorists indulged in nefarious actions from the vicinity of Pakistani army posts across the Line of Control," he said, adding Pakistan forces have committed 27 ceasefire violations between 16 and 21 November, 2016 which constitute a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement of 2003.

Swarup also rejected Islamabad's allegation that India was not giving overflight clearance to Pakistan which is in violation of a 1991 agreement.

"Yes, we are aware of what Pakistan has claimed but we categorically reject these allegations. .

Govt extends exemptions on use of old Rs 500 note till Dec 15

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) Facing severe attack in the wake of difficulties thrown up by demonetisation, government tonight extended till December 15 the facility of using old Rs 500 notes in public utilities and included more services like mobile recharge but stopped the over-the-counter exchange of defunct currencies and use of Rs 1,000 notes.

From now on payment of fees up to Rs 2,000 per student has been allowed in schools and colleges run by central and states governments, municipalities and local bodies.

Payment towards pre-paid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs 500 per recharge has also been allowed while purchase from consumer cooperative stores will be limited to Rs 5,000 at a time, an official release said.

Current and arrears dues payments will be limited to only water and electricity, a facility that will continue to be available only for individuals and households.

However, the release said payments for the transactions under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs 500 notes.

"Considering that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have continued the toll free arrangement at the toll plazas up to December 2, it has been decided that toll payment at these toll plazas may be made through old Rs 500 notes from December 3 to December 15," it said.

Foreign citizens will now be permitted to exchange foreign currency up to Rs 5000 per week. Necessary entry to this effect will be made in their passports, it said.

Explaining the reason for discontinuance of exchange of the defunct notes, the release said it has been observed that over-the-counter exchange of the old notes has shown a declining trend.

It has further been felt that people may be encouraged and facilitated to deposit their old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in their bank accounts. This will encourage people who are still unbanked, to open new bank accounts, it said.

Consequently, it said, there will be no over-the-counter exchange of old notes after midnight tonight.

The exemptions were initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he disclosed the demonetisation scheme on November 8. Subsequently there have been modifications in these measures.

The release said the government has been reviewing the issues arising out of the cancellation of the legal tender character of the high denomination notes.

The Government has also been receiving various suggestions in this regard. After due consideration of all relevant aspects, decisions relating to certain operational aspects of the Scheme have now been taken, it said.

There has been large scale criticism of the government in the wake of severe hardships faced by a cross-section of people following demonetisation of high denomination currency.