I-T cracks down on Indians owning Dubai properties

The Income Tax Department is planning to take strict action against individuals who did not declare ownership of properties in Dubai in their tax returns and failed to explain the source of funds when asked.
The Intelligence and Criminal Investigation Wing of the I-T Dept prepared a list of 2,000 Indian
citizens who owned properties in Dubai but did not declare this fact in their returns. This list was arrived at by scanning for all properties owned by Indians in the Gulf city-state.
Of the individuals who had not declared their ownership, about one-third failed to explain the source of funds.
The tax department is planning to prosecute them under the stringent Black Money Act, which could result in imprisonment as well as a penalty of up to three times the monetary value of the property not declared.
Individuals from Mumbai followed by Kerala and Gujarat top the list of the 2,000 people who failed to make the declaration. Mumbai alone had 900 such individuals.
While those that failed to declare ownership of properties but were able to explain the source of funds may escape with a penalty of Rs 10 lakh.
Since 2011-12, all Indians are required to disclose details of ownership all foreign properties under the “foreign assets” head of their tax returns.