new delhi all real estate transactions will have to be reported to the countrys antimoneylaundering agency once the government amends a key law that seeks to curb blackmoney transactions the government plans to amend the prevention of money laundering act which will require property registrars to file data of transactions recorded by them with the financial intelligence unit or fiu a finance ministry official said the scope of the prevention of money laundering act is being widened the official said fiu is the national agency responsible for processing and disseminating information on suspect financial transactions to enforcement agencies across the world the government may also bring several other transactions under the antimoneylaundering act according to the official these may include futures and options trade in commodities real estate transactions in excess of 30 lakh are already reported to the incometax department but the government wants to tighten scrutiny of the sector often accused of rampant use of black money and moneylaundering although there is no authentic data available the cash component in property transactions is widely believed to be as high as 50 this helps tax evaders park untaxed money easily in property deals the realty sector is known to be vulnerable to laundering so this is a move in the right direction said antimoneylaundering expert navita srikant but suspicious transactions require realtime monitoring and coordination between supervising authorities automation of transactions training of officers and knowledge of red flags to raise suspicious transaction is the key bringing real estate transactions under the antimoneylaundering law will ensure harsher punishment for tax evaders law to help track tax havens at present many states rely on circle rates to check the use of black money in land deals a circle rate is the minimum rate fixed by the government for valuation of a property but it is not considered foolproof as the rate leaves scope for intraregion variations the amended law will also help track transactions involving funds from tax havens or territories named as risky by the financial action task force or fatf fatf is an intergovernmental body set up by the group of seven g7 nations for creating global policies and framework to combat moneylaundering and financing of terrorism india became its 34th member last june although it did not meet all the requirements the country is undergoing an onsite inspection by the agency on the state of compliance the finance ministry official said but he did not link the two indias antimoneylaundering law is being amended not just to meet international commitments but to go beyond he said incidentally a parliamentary standing committee that examined the amendments to the antimoneylaundering law had asked the government to bring lawyers notaries real estate agents and gold dealers within its ambit even the fatf had asked india to extend the act to a range of designated nonfinancial professionals and businesses such as lawyers and real estate agents and ensure they were effectively regulated and supervised many of these