Budget 2019 tightens the noose around NRI tax evaders, charitable trusts

Budget proposes a series of conditions under which a registration to an institution could be cancelled

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) fleeing abroad to avoid prosecution will fall under the ambit of the Black Money Act with retrospective effect. The move will help law enforcement agencies to pursue undisclosed foreign assets and funds parked abroad. The noose has also been tightened around charitable trusts and non-profit organisations empowering the tax officials to cancel registrations if they fail to comply with the criteria and certain objectives for which they are constituted. 

At present, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, covers only resident Indians. The Finance Bill has expanded the definition of assessees