Black Money Act Penalty Discretionary, Not Mandatory: ITAT Mumbai 

Vinil Venugopal Vs DDIT (Inv) (ITAT Mumbai) The Special Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai, was constituted to resolve a conflict in co-ordinate bench decisions regarding the interpretation of Section 43 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) And Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (BM Act). The core issue was the meaning of the word “may” in the penalty provision: whether the imposition of a penalty is mandatory once a failure to disclose foreign assets is established, or if the Assessing Officer (AO) retains the discretion to impose or waive ...