New Delhi, (IANS) : The government on Thursday assured people that the information declared under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) would be kept confidential and not shared with any authority, an official statement said.

“As regards concerns regarding confidentiality of the information filed under the scheme, it is reiterated that information contained in a valid declaration is confidential and shall not be shared,” the Finance Ministry statement said.

The Income Declaration Scheme-2016, valid only till September 30, allows those who have not paid full taxes in the past to come forward and declare their undisclosed income and assets.

“In respect of declarations filed with the commissioner of income-tax, centralised processing centre (CPC-Bengaluru), the declaration shall not be shared even with the jurisdictional principal commissioner or commissioner and payments made under the scheme shall not be visible to the jurisdictional officers,” the statement said.

“Similarly, the declaration filed with jurisdictional principal commissioner or commissioner shall not be shared with any authority within or outside the department, including the jurisdictional assessing officer,” it said.

Further, the payments made under the scheme shall neither be reflected in the annual statement, which is the consolidated tax statement, nor can it be viewed by the assessing officer in the Online Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) of the department in the interest of confidentiality, it said.