Central bank invites requests for regularisation of declared wealth

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said that those who have declared unaccounted overseas assets under the blackmoney law should file application with its central office for regularisation of declared wealth.

Under the regulation, a person resident in India who has declared any asset under the Black Money Act and intends to hold them is required to make an application to the RBI within 180 days of declaration, RBI said in a statement. The applications seeking regularisation of assets held abroad by a person resident in India and declared under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, under Fema will be considered at the RBI's central office, Mumbai, it said. Applications may be addressed to Principal Chief General Manager, Foreign Exchange Department (Foreign Investment Division, it added. The new law, called the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 came into force with effect from 1 July 2015.

The Act provided for a one-time compliance window to declare assets held abroad and pay due taxes and penalty on the value of assets declared.

This window was provided by the government as just a one-time facility for stash holders to come clean before enforcing the stringent new law to curb and check the menace of black money or illegal assets held by Indians abroad.

Government has collected a total of Rs 2,428.4 crore in taxes after over 600 declarations were made by stash holders to the Income Tax department under the one-time black money compliance window that ended September 2015.

RBI had said no action under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) will be taken against declarations under one-time black money compliance window.