In case you hold foreign bank accounts or properties, be ready to provide more information from now onwards as part of Income Tax Return (ITR) disclosure.
With a view to keep tab on Black Money kept abroad particularly ‘Foreign Banks’, Government has introduced a new column in its Income Tax Return (ITR) forms, seeking details of foreign assets. Rule is applicable for the assessment year 2012-2013 onwards.
Taxpayers, who hold foreign bank accounts or properties, will have to provide details of their foreign assets which include information like country name, address of the bank, name mentioned in the account and peak balance during the year, after converting the value of the foreign currency into Local Currency.
The I-T department, in the new ITR, has also asked the taxpayer to furnish to it details of account/accounts abroad in which the taxpayer has “signing authority”.
The move holds significance as government is finding it very difficult to explain its stand on the issue of ‘Black Money’. This disclosure will go a long way in order to bring accountability and ‘check and balance’ which are missing as of today.
(Author can be reached at : sumeet_raithatha@yahoo.co.in )
