A new framework has been put in place for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to help check the black money menace with effect from January 1, 2018. The funds held by Indians through fiduciaries alone used to be in billions till 2007 but began falling after that amid fears of regulatory crackdown. It is now at second-lowest level in 20 years.
Modi promised in his 2014 election campaign to recover billions of dollars sent to tax havens abroad to avoid income tax, now about 30 per cent in India
These individuals largely include businessmen associated with companies, including the dummy ones, in sectors ranging from real estate, financial services, technology and telecom to paints, home decoration, textiles, engineering goods, gems and jewellery. Several of these persons and their companies are said to be based in Kolkata, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that his government is unsparing when it comes to punishing the corrupt and listed out the steps initiated by him to curb the menace.
Compliance window for those with undisclosed income abroad to come clean by paying 30 per cent tax and 30 per cent penalty
Arun Jaitley has promised a compliance window under the new black money law for persons with overseas funds to come clean.
Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to 2.55 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 20,700 crore) in 2020 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments, though customer deposits fell, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. The increase in aggregate funds of Indian clients with Swiss banks, from 899 million Swiss francs (Rs 6,625 crore) at the end of 2019, reverses a two-year declining trend and has taken the figure to the highest level in 13 years. It stood at a record high of nearly 6.5 billion Swiss francs in 2006, after which it has been mostly on a downward path, except for a few years including in 2011, 2013 and 2017, as per the Swiss National Bank (SNB) data.
Union minister Jitendra Singh assured the members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there is better nuclear safety in India as compared to many other countries and there are enough safeguards in the Indian nuclear plants.
New FMC directives for MDs & CEOs; regulator also wants half the directors on commodity exchange boards to be independent.
The government has stated that it will make all efforts to bring back illicit wealth parked by its citizens in foreign jurisdictions.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had recently sent a delegation to Switzerland and the members had returned with some positive movement.
635 declarations of illegal wealth were made in the 3-month compliance window.
Multinational companies operating in India will soon have to disclose details of their operations at the country of residence and their revenue income to the Income Tax authorities.
He said this in Parliament rebutting reports last month, which quoted the Swiss National Bank, the country's central bank, as saying in its annual report that Indian deposits had risen by 50 per cent in 2017.
Mutual funds, as experts and custodians of another set of retail investors' savings, play a speculative game they are neither supposed to nor equipped to do, cautions Debashis Basu.
Modi said his government is committed to ensuring probity among public servants.
In the new Parliament House, with a soft launch this Winter Session, paper is expected to disappear. For the guidance of ministers, secretaries can scribble notes on linked pads even from their offices to respond to queries from members.
Swiss authorities have always maintained that assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland cannot be considered as 'black money' and they actively support India in its fight against tax fraud and evasion.
Financial institutions at the risk of US sanctions as sharing of documents on SC directive amounts to violation of existing agreements.
While Airtel has hiked the limit to 100 per cent in principle, the company needs to address some issues on overseas investment limits in subsidiaries, before the changes come into effect. Until then, the cap on foreign ownership will remain at 49 per cent under the automatic route.
Marking the end of strict banking secrecy practices, Switzerland earlier this month agreed to automatic exchange of information and mutual administrative assistance in tax matters with overseas authorities.
With the Swiss government showing eagerness to help India trace suspected black money hoarders, banks based in Switzerland appear to be losing traction among the wealthy Indian clients and could not get much business commitments during the just-ended WEF summit.
If India was able to provide additional and new information about people and entities that figure on stolen lists, they may consider it to exchange information
Sri Lanka's main Opposition parties on Sunday agreed to form an all-party interim government after the anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, following unprecedented political turmoil that forced him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to offer their resignations over the mishandling of the nation's crippling economic crisis.
The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45 per cent in 2016, marking their biggest ever yearly plunge, to CHF 676 million (about Rs 4,500 crore) -- the lowest ever since the European nation began making the data public in 1987.
This route accounts for Rs 2.75 lakh crore of FPI holdings.
Acknowledging that effective taxation of mobile income is a key challenge, G20 leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday vowed to take steps to change rules to tackle tax avoidance, harmful practices and aggressive tax planning.
Modi on Saturday embarked on a five-nation visit to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico focus of which will be to enhance India's engagement in areas of trade, energy and security, besides pushing for its membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India was the approving authority.
'The corporate tax cuts will obviously result in lower tax payments by companies,' says Central Board of Direct Taxes member Akhilesh Ranjan who retires after 37 years in government service.
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In one of the worst school shootings in American history, an 18-year-old gunman has killed 21 people, including 19 children, and two adults at an elementary school in Texas state, with an emotional President Joe Biden urging lawmakers to 'turn this pain into action' to control the powerful gun lobby.
'After he had exposed the Narcotics Bureau's wrongdoings, he threatened to expose the Enforcement Directorate as well.' 'So they are trying to rake up an old legal deal, distorting information and using the PMLA which did not even exist at that time.'
There is no mechanism to ensure that the customer gets his money back and nor are there any guidelines or rules to protect the customer from this problem
Chaos in Parliament threw a spanner in the government's efforts to revive the economy and kick-start reforms.
Gunmen armed with rifles opened fire in six different locations in central Vienna on the city's final night before coronavirus lockdown on Monday.
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.
Amar Dubey, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000, was killed in an encounter in Maudaha village in Hamirpur district.
The government on Saturday made its prior approval mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share land border with India to curb 'opportunistic takeovers' of domestic firms following the COVID-19 pandemic, a move which will restrict Foreign Direct Investment from China.
Rejecting the charge that the National Democratic Alliance has done a U-turn on disclosure of names of black money holders, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government will not be pushed into an act of adventurism and jeopardise the chances of getting cooperation of other countries in future.
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