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Dear Readers,
Welcome to Mentor for Bank Exams. Here I am sharing an article about the
latest developments in Demonetisation. Kindly make use of this!!!
Demonetisation: Latest developments
The Central Board of Direct Taxes
revealed that the Income Tax department has sent upto 3,000 notices on the
basis of bank deposits after the currency ban was announced last month. Given
below are the 10 top demonetisation-related developments from the day.
Last opportunity to
disclose black money: The
government today urged citizens to make use of the final opportunity for
disclosing black money: the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. This tax
disclosure scheme, which opens tomorrow and closes on March 31 next year,
provides for 50 per cent tax and surcharge on declarations of unaccounted cash
deposited in banks, and requires declarants to park a quarter of the total sum
in a non-interest bearing deposit for four years. Revenue Secretary
Hasmukh Adhia said declarations under the scheme would be kept confidential,
and the information wouldn't be used for prosecution.
E-mail ID for citizens to
inform government about black money hoarders: The government also asked citizens to mail information about
black money hoarders to blackmoneyinfo@incometax.gov.in.
3,000 notices sent out
post-demonetisation: Sushil
Chandra, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, said around 3,000
notices had been sent out on the basis of deposits in bank accounts after
demonetisation. "Based on information screening we have conducted search
and seizures in about 291 cases. We have carried out surveys in 295
cases," he added.
Political parties
depositing demonetised notes exempt from Income Tax: The government today said political
parties depositing old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in their accounts will be
exempt from income tax (under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961).
However, the tax exemption is applicable only if the donations taken are below
Rs 20,000 per individual, the political party keeps and maintain books and
other documents of the income, and the accounts are audited by a Chartered
Accountant. Besides, farmers who are exempted from paying tax on agriculture
income will need to declare that their earnings are less than Rs 2.5 lakh in a
year to make bank deposits without PAN. Those unable to do that will need to
provide their PAN information.
No extension of deadline
for using old notes: The Supreme Court today refused to extend the deadline - midnight of
December 15 - for the use of the demonetised notes to pay bills for utilities,
hospitals, railway tickets, petrol and the like.
Petitions challenging
validity of demonetisation referred to Constitution Bench: In addition, the apex court stayed
all petitions on demonetisation in various high courts and referred petitions
challenging the constitutional validity of the note ban to a five-judge
Constitution Bench. It barred all other courts from hearing pleas against the
ban.
Temporary MDR caps: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said
the Merchant Discount Rate would be temporarily capped at 0.25% of the
transaction value of debit card transactions worth upto Rs 1000, and at 0.5% of
the transaction value for transactions worth above Rs 1000 and upto Rs 2000.
The central bank said these transactions included payments made to the
government, but not ATM transactions. These measures will come into effect from
January 1 next year, and end on March 31
No charges on IMPS, USSD
and UPI transactions worth upto Rs 1,000: The RBI also announced that all
participating banks and Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers shouldn't levy
charges on transactions worth upto Rs 1,000 made using Immediate Payment
Service (IMPS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), and United
Payment Interface (UPI). These measures, too, will come into effect from
January 1 2017, and end on March 31.
New Rs 500 notes: The Reserve Bank will release new Rs
500 notes with the inset letter E in both the number panels, and with the
Swachh Bharat logo printed on the reverse of the notes. "Some of the
captioned banknotes will have an additional character* (star) in the number
panel in the space between the prefix and the number," the RBI said.
'Star' banknotes in Rs 500 denomination are being issued for the first time.
Foreign Citizen: The RBI also said foreign citizens
will be allowed to exchange foreign exchange for Indian currency notes up to a
limit of Rs 5,000 per week till December 31.
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