Income Tax dept attaches 900 benami properties worth over Rs 35 billion

I-T Department said in a statement that it has stepped up action under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act

The Income Tax (I-T) Department on Thursday said it has attached more than 900 benami properties including flats, shops, jewellery and vehicles worth over Rs 35 billion.

I-T Department said in a statement that it has stepped up action under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, which came into force from November 1, 2016.

The Act provides for provisional attachment and subsequent confiscation of benami properties, whether movable or immovable.

It also allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar and the abettor to benami transactions, which may result in rigorous imprisonment up to 7 years and a fine of up to 25 per cent of fair market value of the property.

The department had set up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) under its Investigation Directorates all over India in May, 2017 to ensure swift action in respect of Benami properties.

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"Due to intensive efforts undertaken by the Department, provisional attachment has been made in more than 900 cases of properties under the Act. These include plots of land, flats, shops, jewellery, vehicles, deposits in bank accounts, fixed deposits etc," the statement said.

The value of properties under attachment is more than Rs 35 billion including immovable properties of more than Rs 29 billion, the department said.

Benami literally means 'without a name'. An asset without a legal owner or a fictitious owner is called benami.

The original Benami Act was introduced in 1988 for prevention of black money and was amended in 2016 to prohibit benami transactions and provides for confiscating benami properties....Read more

Aadhaar will work as weapon against benami properties: PM Modi at HT Summit

By linking Aadhaar to Mobile and Jan Dhan, we have created a system that could not have been imagined few years back: Modi

 

economy news: Describing Aadhaar as a major "power" to bring about an "irreversible change" in the common man's life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Unique Identification Number will now be used in cases involving benami properties.

"By linking Aadhaar to Mobile and Jan Dhan, we have created such a system that could not have been imagined few years back.

"In last three years, with the help of Aadhaar, crores of fake names have been removed from the system. Now it is going to be a big weapon against benami properties," Modi said while addressing the inaugural session of the Hindustan Times Summit.

He said that the country saw a "behavioural change" after demonetisation, which helped in converting to a "clean and healthy economy".

"For the first time after Independence the corrupt people are scared of transacting in black money. They are scared of being caught. The black money which was earlier base of parallel economy, has now become part of formal economy," he said.

"Such an irreversible change is getting boost from Aadhaar. Aadhaar is such a power through which this government want to ensure rights of poor. It is also playing a big role in providing subsidised ration, scholarships, medicines, pensions and other government subsidies," he said.

He said the day the country would adopt maximum transactions via digital addresses, "organised crime would come to an end to some extent".

Modi said "big transformations" do not come easily and for it "hauling up of the entire system was needed".

"We can increase our ease of doing business ranking from 142 to 100 only when we take initiatives for big transformation," Modi said.