There will be no enquiry, scrutiny and prosecution in future against declarants in respect of income declared under the Scheme, he added.

He also added a note of caution that the persons possessing undeclared assets or undisclosed incomes, and  not availing of this Scheme within  Sept 30 will face the full blast of the new law which is much harsher .

The Government of India has been attaching great importance to the Income Declaration Scheme 2016, as has been borne out clearly in the speech of the Prime Minister recently in “Maan ki Baat,” and the statements made by the Union Finance Minister.

A. A. Shankar, Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, said that while declarations could be made till September 30, 2016, tax payments could be made by Nov 30, 2016. Various Chambers of Commerce, professional Institutions and associations have been organising awareness programmes to explain and clarify the Scheme.

Other senior officials at the press conference Priyabrata Pramanik, Addl. Director of Income Tax, and Rakesh Goyal, spoke about the provisions relating to eligibility, nature of assets, periods of availability and the immunities available. Declarations could be filed online, or made in printed forms to jurisdictional Principal Commissioners or Commissioners of Income Tax. 

The others who spoke on the occasion were  Narayan Jain, National Vice President, All India Federation of Tax Practitioners, and Anirban Dutta, Chairman – EIRC, ICAI