Against estimates of black wealth of Rs 300 lakh crore and black money in cash of Rs 3 lakh crore by economist Arun Kumar, the PMGKY numbers fall short by a huge margin.
'The difference between black money in India and the black money out of India is, in India, it is tax evaded money and Indian money outside India is not only tax evaded money, but money which has been taken out of India's capital resources needed for India. So it is not only tax evasion, but treason too.'
This is the first time that this important nodal national agency for economic intelligence has obtained data on suspected offshore stash of Indians as, till now, such information was only received by the exclusive wing of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
To check black money menace, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a new bill that would give more powers to the tax department in tracking illicit wealth stashed abroad and provide for strict penal actions for such offence.
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigative Team on black money, Justice Arijit Pasayat, said Rs 70,000 crore of black money has been unearthed so far and the sixth report on it will be submitted to the apex court in April.
Total amount in these accounts is estimated to be around Rs 1,500-1,600 cr
Stepping up attack on the government on the black money issue, Trinamool Congress MPs on Tuesday blocked the main entrance of Parliament and threatened to derail House proceedings over the matter.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday launched an attack on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in the Centre for not taking any action against black money stashed away in foreign banks.
The move follows poor results in detecting undisclosed foreign assets and delay in concluding pending matters under the Black Money Act, which came into effect in 2015. According to the official data, only 52 cases have been identified so far. Of these, nine are from Mumbai alone.
Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to CHF 1.01 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend amid India's clampdown on suspected black money stashed there.
"Let people pay, but if they don't pay, go after them"
Industrialist and MP Rahul Bajaj on Wednesday added a new dimension to the debate over black money, saying it funds political parties.
Uttam Ghosh on Narendra Modi's pre-election promise to get back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Lodhiya, whose name figured in the list of black money holders submitted by the government to the Supreme Court, to probe if he was involved in hawala trade.
India will begin its first round of consultations with the Swiss government on tracing black money stashed by Indians in banks in that country in December, but there is no guarantee of prosecution of offenders on the basis of information secured from them.
On Wednesday, the Modi sarkar placed a list of names of 627 Indian account holders in HSBC bank, Geneva in the black money case before the Supreme Court. While on the campaign trail, bringing back black money stashed away in foreign banks was one of the biggest election promises made by Narendra Modi. Rediff.com takes a look at some of the prime minister's tall assurances.
His remark comes hours after the government disclosed before the Supreme Court eight more names, including that of Pradip Burman, one of Dabur India promoters, a bullion trader and a Goa miner against whom it has started prosecution for allegedly stashing black money in foreign banks.
"Ramdev is fighting against black money. It has my full support. We had been against black money and will continue to do so," Mulayam Singh Yadav said after meeting Ramdev at his residence.
A 'trend analysis' has shown that the target base for the special exercise would not be very large.
How will the government's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes help curb the creation and flow of black money into the Indian economy?
Might use it to counter Opposition campaign on land issue.
India has joined global efforts to combat global tax evasion.
Political funding of elections has led to the rise in black money in the economy.
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Enforcement agencies will be empowered to confiscate assets
The Income Tax Department has not recommended 'amnesty scheme' to deal with the issue of black money, the government said on Wednesday.
Revenue department would come out with more clarifications through FAQs on the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Act.
The Central Board for Direct Taxes on Friday said a black money declarant under the PMGKY scheme will be allowed to file declarations under the stipulated Form 1 by April 10, if tax and penalty is paid by the deadline that ends on March 31 (Friday).
'Alas, in this scheme there is nothing to stop the black money flows of the future.' 'On the contrary Modi has sown the seeds of more, through the issue of Rs 2,000 notes.' 'But have you heard one politician decrying this aspect of the scheme?' 'They must be secretly rejoicing that while Modi is taking away their past, he has not shut the door on their future,' says banker S Muralidharan.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday questioned the silence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on black money, corruption and inflation and asked her to speak on these issues.
However, an official acknowledgment of receiving a valid declaration under IDS (Form-2) will only be given to the concerned entity after a PAN number is allotted to him or her
Beginning its campaign in India, the Global Institutional Investors Forum said that Mauritius was fully supporting India's fight against black money and money laundering and it was 'a clean, transparent jurisdiction of substance.'
In an online chat with readers, Investment Advisor Harsh Roongta answered their queries on the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT on Friday called for effective norms to curb betting in cricket and a stronger set of norms for P-Notes, while also making a case for bringing donations to educational and religious bodies under tax net.
Aiming to "awaken people about corruption and black money", Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday started the 1,00,000-km-long Bharat Swambiman Yatra from Jhansi. "My yatra, 2012 Mahasangram, will awaken people in the entire country on the issue of black money and corruption. The Mahasangram, which started from the land of Veerangana Rani Lakshmi Bai, will reach Parliament one day," he said on the first day of the yatra.
Tax rules that could land you in trouble
The Prime Minister said he was glad that the world community took note of this "because this is an issue that does not selectively affect one nation."
Referring to demonetisation of high value currency notes, Jaitley said it was well received as 'imandari ka utsav.'
White Papers, which are issued by the government, lay out the policy or proposed action on topics of current concern.
India is the latest of several nations to raise the alarm about illicit capital flight. Following high-profile scandals involving Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the Group of 20 nations has demanded greater co-operation in tackling the shadow financial system.
Alleging that the BJP would end democracy if it was not voted out, Kharge said it was because of this democracy that a tea-seller's son could become the prime minister of India and he, the son of a labourer, could become the president of the opposition Congress.
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