NEW DELHI: The government plans to step up pressure on those indentified with ‘benami’ property. A meeting in this regard was held in here on Saturday, where the I-T officials across the country dealing with the benami property participated, sources said.
The meeting was addressed by top I-T officials from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) was to enquire about additional powers that they require to crack down on those with benami property, sources added. Inputs from the meeting are expected to be processed soon and evaluated on providing additional powers to the I-T officials across the country.
Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (the Act) became effective from November 1, 2016. The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Rules, 2016 has been framed in this regard.
As per the Act, benami property includes movable or immovable property, tangible or intangible property, corporeal or incorporeal property. It empowers provisional attachment and subsequent confiscation of benami properties.
It also allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar, the abettor and the inducer to benami transactions, which may result in rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to 25 per cent of fair market value of the property.The government is keen to implement the new Benami Act in an effective manner with visible outcomes on the ground. For this purpose, 24 dedicated benami prohibition units (BPUs) have been set up all over India.