New Delhi: More or less everyone keeps some gold jewelery at home. Cash is also kept for emergencies. But many do not show this money or gold account while filing income tax return or ITR.
However, according to the Income Tax Act 2026, if you do not show the account of the money or gold kept at home, then you may face a big problem. There may even be hefty fines. Under the new Income Tax Act, if a person has unaccounted income or has large sums of money or gold at home, the government can impose a hefty penalty.
Penalty can be up to 78 percent of the total amount. If one fails to disclose the source of income, a penalty of up to 86 percent can be levied. When can home income tax be hit? Under Section 115 BBE of the Income Tax Act, a special tax is levied on unaccounted income, cash, investment, jewelery or other expenses of a person. Even if one can prove the source of his undeclared income, he may still have to pay up to 60 percent tax on the income.
Besides this, 25 percent surcharge and 4 percent cess will sit. In other words, up to 78 percent tax will be paid in total. For example, if someone has undisclosed income of Rs 1 crore, he may have to pay tax of Rs 78 lakh.
What if there is undeclared property? If one has undeclared assets, the Income Tax Department can impose a hefty penalty. 85.8 percent of the total income or property, including taxes and penalties, may be taxed.
How much money can be kept at home? As per the rules, there is no upper limit for keeping money in the house. But no matter how much money is kept at home, it must have a source of income or legitimacy.
If there is no record of the money kept in the house or cannot explain the source of income, the Income Tax department will treat it as undeclared property or income and penalize accordingly. How much gold can be kept at home? Married women can keep a maximum of 500 grams of gold with themselves.
Unmarried women can keep a maximum of 250 grams of gold with themselves. Even if the amount of gold is more than this, the Income Tax Department will not confiscate it if the gold jewelery is billed.
