What is worrying analysts is that such money that flows into India seems to be the money of Indians, sent abroad first through the hawala route and then subsequently laundered abroad, especially in tax havens.
The government on Saturday said it has served notices to 17 persons who allegedly kept untaxed money in foreign banks and prosecution has begun against them, but refused to reveal their names. The comments, made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, came a day after some media reports revealed names of 15 entities, including individuals and trusts, who allegedly kept illicit money in LGT Bank of Liechtenstein, an European country neighbouring Switzerland.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will announce the measures the United Progressive Alliance government intends to take to bring back the unaccounted money into the country and tighten the regulatory and tax framework to prevent further illegal outflows.
The government of India took note about the money kept by the Indian tax eva-ders in Swiss Banks, which is estimated at around $462 billion.
Excerpted from Sahara: The Untold Story by Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Gohil, speaking after the HC ruling earlier in the day, maintained that in the past the apex court has provided relief to accused in different cases.
Plans to probe into financial details of more than 500 individuals, entities that might have secret offshore accounts at various places abroad
The government has set up two income tax overseas units at its missions in Singapore and Mauritius and will create such units in eight more countries to facilitate exchange of information on tax-related issues, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer, who will retire on January 4, is likely to pronounce its verdict on the matter on the said date.
In the midst of a row over tainted money stashed in banks in Switzerland, the government on Tuesday said it will begin talks with that country in December for amending the relevant treaty and it was not interested in a "roving inquiry".
If the account in a foreign bank has income undisclosed to income tax authorities, or has funds from illegal sources, the account can be declared illegal, under the Fema.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday told the Delhi high court that withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes is not demonetisation but a statutory exercise, and the decision to enable their exchange was taken for operational convenience.
India has moved up to 58th rank in terms of foreign money lying with Swiss banks, but it accounts for a meagre 0.15 per cent of an estimated $1.6 trillion total global wealth held in Switzerland's banking system.
There is much more that the government can do to track money hidden abroad.
It is not clear whether the two judgements will be concurring or dissenting.
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The CBDT is understood to be 'seriously considering' recommending to the government a scheme on the lines of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme announced in 1996 to tap funds lying abroad for productive use in India.
Taxable assets have been defined to include deposits in banks outside India.
Tax Information Exchange Agreements between countries are one way to prevent, or at least curb, the flow of illicit funds.
Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to a 14-year-high of 3.83 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 30,500 crore) in 2021 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments while customer deposits rose as well, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed up the country's three top economic think tanks to arrive at an official figure. This will help the government frame policies to tackle the problem.
The expos of Swiss bank account holders has rekindled a controversy regarding the amount of illegal money stashed abroad by Indians.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier this month approved the proposal for deputing the officials at the Paris-headquartered body as advisors.
The Bhartiya Janata Party will pressure the United Progressive Alliance government in the upcoming Parliament session to act on a 23-point charter formulated by its 'task force' for following constitutional, legal, political and geo-political measures to unearth and bring back the Indian monies illegally stashed abroad.
Innocent anchors in the media, especially electronic, are guilty of raising expectations of a gullible nation without realizing how these accounts operate.
India has called for implementation of the automatic exchange of tax info.
The Reserve Bank of India does not have any estimate of alleged illegal gold transactions going on in the country, according an RTI reply.
Advances to firms for deals that never go through are the best way to convert this into legal cash.
Of the 700-odd Indians having foreign bank accounts, not all can be deemed to be operating these illegally.
"Heard. Judgement reserved. Learned counsels of the Union of India and Reserve Bank of India are directed to produce the relevant records," the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, and B V Nagarathna, said.
A team would soon be visiting Switzerland to hold talks with the Swiss authorities in an effort to unearth unaccounted for money stashed away by Indian nationals, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said. The government has finalised dates to renegotiate existing treaties with Switzerland and Belgium to broaden the scope for bringing back money parked illegally by Indians in foreign banks.
Though there are different views on the Global Financial Integrity numbers that the BJP cites, getting the money back to India is not going to be an easy task
Swiss govt's latest response comes against the backdrop of P Chidambaram shooting off another letter to his Swiss counterpart.
The Income Tax officials, having a tenure of three years, will function from the Indian Missions in Washington DC (the US), London (the UK), Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), The Hague (Netherlands), Abu Dhabi (the UAE), Cyprus (Nicosia) and Japan (Tokyo).
India has ratified an international convention on taxation which will help the country in bringing back illegal funds stashed abroad, the finance ministry said on Friday.
'Once the Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared the law, we are obliged to accept it. However, it is necessary to point out that the majority has not upheld the wisdom of the decision; nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved,' the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.
A UK court on Monday ruled that Sanjay Bhandari, an accused middleman and consultant in arms deals, can be extradited to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
In keeping with an announcement made by party leader L K Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from both Houses of Parliament on Friday submitted declarations to their respective presiding officers stating that they do not have any illegal money stashed in foreign bank accounts.
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