BMA 2015 s.50

BMA 2015 s.50 — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section BMA 2015 s.50, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Union of India v Gautam Khaitan Supreme CourtHelps departmentValidity unconfirmed
  The department says the Black Money Act applies to my foreign account from July 2015. Is that retrospective?
  No. Notifying 1 July 2015 as the commencement date of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015 did not make the Act retrospective. The date was advanced only so the one-time compliance window in s.59 could operate, and tax under s.3 is still charged only from assessment year 2016-17 onwards.
• CBDT instruction of 18 August 2025 on Black Money Act prosecutions CBDT Circulars & InstructionsHelps taxpayer
  The foreign asset is small and no penalty is proposed. Can they still prosecute me for leaving it out of Schedule FA?
  Not on the Board's own instruction. It directs that prosecution under s.49 or s.50 of the Black Money Act is not to be initiated in cases where penalty under s.42 or s.43 is not imposed or not imposable because the asset falls within the proviso to those sections - assets other than immovable property whose aggregate value does not exceed Rs 20 lakh. It amends an earlier instruction of 15 March 2022.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.