The ₹3 lakh
ceiling on cash transactions from April 1, 2017, proposed in the Union Budget
2017-18, has been revised to ₹2
lakh, with the government introducing an amendment to this effect in the
Finance Bill cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The tightening of the cap on cash transactions was one of 40
amendments to the Finance Bill proposed by the Centre.
“In the official amendments to the Finance Bill, the
government has proposed that the limit of ₹3 lakh for cash transactions, beyond which it is
illegal, be reduced to ₹2 lakh.
The penalty for violating this is a fine equivalent to the amount of
transaction,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said in a tweet on Tuesday
evening.
The cap on cash transactions was proposed as part of a slew
of measures to promote cashless transactions enunciated in the Budget that was
presented within three months of the demonetisation of high-value currency
notes that accounted for 86% of the money in circulation last November.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money had
suggested that no transaction above ₹3 lakh should be permitted in cash. “The
government has decided to accept this proposal. Suitable amendment to the
Income-tax Act is proposed in the Finance Bill for enforcing this decision,”
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech
Source: http://www.thehindu.com