IDS counters to remain open till Friday midnight

Counters for receiving declarations under the Income Declaration Scheme - 2016 will remain functional till 12:00 midnight on 30 September 2016 in order to facilitate filing of declarations in paper form.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued instructions to all principal chief commissioners of income tax across India to ensure that arrangements are made for receiving such declarations till midnight of 30 September 2016.

Declarations can also be made online as well as in printed copies of the prescribed form up to midnight on 30 September 2016.

Accordingly, the counters for receiving declarations under the Income Declaration Scheme - 2016 will be functional till 12:00 midnight on 30 September 2016.

The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 came into effect from 1 June 2016. It provides an opportunity to persons who have not paid full taxes in the past to come forward and declare their undisclosed incomes and assets.

Media reports, meanwhile, said that the collection so far is running into thousands of crores, days before the four-month window for people having undisclosed income to come clean ends next Friday.

In Surat, the collections under the IDS 2016 are estimated to have reached Rs1,100 crore as of Friday (23 September), with real estate magnates, textile traders, textile dyeing and printing mill owners disclosing Rs100 crore, according to a report in The Times of India.

In Tamil Nadu, the income tax department has netted amount that has not been quantified but reportedly "runs into crores" even as the response is "runaway success and encouraging," according to a PTI report.

Some of the disclosures under the scheme in the state have come from film personalities and those engaged in real estate business, jewellery, finance and auto ancillaries, reports added.