Budget 2016: Arun Jaitley says compliance window is neither VDIS nor amnesty

The four-month compliance window for domestic black money holders is not an amnesty scheme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

"There is monumental income tax law changes which I have made. Its not a VDIS (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme) and it is not an amnesty," Jaitley said in an interview to state-broadcaster Doordarshan News.

Presenting the Budget 2016-17 in Parliament, the Finance Minister said he wanted to give an opportunity to earlier non-compliant to move to the category of compliant as he proposed a limited period compliance window for domestic tax payers to declare undisclosed income represented in any form of assets.

One can clear up past transgression by paying tax at 30%, a surcharge at 7.5%, a penalty at 7.5% which is total of 45% of undisclosed income.

Elaborating on the proposal, Jaitley said: "Inequality arises in amnesty, where under certain exemptions, you as a honest tax payer has paid 30% and I come and join after 20 years and say that I would also pay 30%."

Amnesty, he said, is that 1996 VDIS and the present scheme is not structured that way.

"So you are paying penalties for not paying tax on time. This is intending to bring some money from outside the system to into the system," the minister said.

The government plans to open the compliance window under the Income Tax Disclosure Scheme from June 1 to September 30, 2016 with option to pay amount due within 2 months of declaration.

In the last Budget, the government had come out with similar compliance window for people holding undisclosed assets abroad.