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The Finance Ministry on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that the number of individual taxpayers with incomes of ₹1 billion or more nearly doubled in the Assessment Year 2019-20 (Fiscal Year 2018-19) but dipped in AY20-21 (FY 2019-20).
No definition, measure
In her written reply to a question on the number of billionaires, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that there is no legislative or administrative definition of the term billionaire under direct taxes. With wealth tax abolished, the CBDT no longer captures information about the complete wealth of an individual taxpayer.
She said the number of individuals disclosing a gross total income of more than ₹100 crore during AY2018-19 was 77, which rose to 141 the next year but dipped to 136 in AY 2020-21.
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Crypto-currencies
To another question, Minister for State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply, “The Government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system. The government will explore use of block chain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.” Further, he said that the Inter-Ministerial Committee to study the issues relating to VCs, had recommended that all cryptocurrencies, except any issued by the state, be prohibited in India. “The government would take a decision on the recommendations of the Committee and the legislative proposal, if any, would be introduced in Parliament following due process,” he said.
Jan Dhan Accounts
On inoperative Jan Dhan Accounts (PMJDY), Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said, “The total inoperative accounts under PMJDY as on 28.07.2021 are approx. 5.82 crore. Out of the total, women inoperative accounts are approx. 2.02 crore. This constitutes around 35 per cent of total inoperative accounts.”
According to the PMJDY website, Jan Dhan accounts total 42.83 crore with a balance of nearly ₹1.43 lakh crore.
Karad said due to various initiatives by the RBI, the number of inoperative PMJDY accounts for PSBs has declined from 18.08 per cent in March 2020 to 14.02 per cent in July 2021.” Karad said.
He also mentioned that the RBI has advised banks to ensure that DBT payments to accounts are not rejected for reasons of savings bank accounts being classified inoperative/dormant.
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