Penalties will be charged if tax evaders don't come clean by Sept. 30: Jayant Sinha

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha on Monday said the Centre has been very aggressively taking steps to bring back black money stashed in safe havens abroad, adding a deadline has been given till September 30 after which the penalties will be charged.

"The government will make all attempts to get more information on black money. Account holders are given a deadline till September 30th to disclose any income in foreign accounts after which penalties should be given," Sinha told the media here.

"We expect that as we continue with automatic exchange of information more of these kinds of sources of black money will come to light," he added.

The Minister of State for Finance further said the idea of providing compliance window was to be able to provide an opportunity for the people to come clean.

"But since the window has shut tight, all of our investigations and efforts have been underway," he added.

Delivering a strong message to the defaulters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday asked them not to evade taxes and come clean by September 30.

"Don't evade taxes and come clean by September 30. There will be no leniency after September 30 against defaulters," he said in the 29th edition of his 'Mann ki Baat' radio programme.

Meanwhile, talking about the great GDP numbers and a healthy Indian economy on a global platform amid concerns over Brexit, Sinha said, "After Brexit there has been a lot of chaos, but share, currency and debt markets are taken care of smoothly."

He added that there has been disintegration in the market after the Brexit case, but there is need to observe the consequences in the market for longer terms.