The total money of Indians fell by 45 per cent during 2016 to CHF 675.75 million, marking the biggest ever yearly decline in such funds.
'If you see another 1000-point correction, people may start panicking.'
In its effort to unearth black money stashed away abroad, India has received data on over 24,000 instances of alleged tax evasion and dubious funds which has been detected in foreign shores in the last financial year.
Marking a key milestone in the Indian government's fight against black money allegedly stashed abroad, India will get this month the complete information on flats, apartments and condominiums owned by Indians in Switzerland as also on earnings made from such properties to help it look into tax liabilities associated with those assets.
The ED probe into alleged money laundering by crypto exchange WazirX and the subsequent squabbling among its promoters has revealed the 'darker side' of cryptocurrencies, a top government source said on Thursday. The source added that people should exercise caution in absence of a regulation to govern cryptocurrencies and so-called exchanges trading in them. "Caution is the word that should be in the minds of the people dealing with crypto. "In the episode of WazirX, people got to know many darker sides, caution is necessary in crypto transaction," the source said.
The agreement on sharing of financial information is a distinct and welcome break from its trend.
Indian rupee has declined by about 25 per cent since December 31, 2014, and is nearing 80 against the dollar, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. The value of the rupee declined from 63.33 against a dollar on December 31, 2014, to 79.41 on July 11, 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a reply quoting RBI data. The exchange rate of the Indian Rupee against the dollar was Rs 78.94 per dollar as of June 30, 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply.
Indians having undisclosed income in the United States (US) may face proceedings under Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, this financial year. Also, those named in global leaks may be searched, show-caused, and prosecuted, according to the FY23 internal action plan of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The CBDT has rolled out an aggressive target and timeline to investigate tax evasion matters, especially those involving undisclosed foreign assets.
Switzerland will not share details about accounts held prior to September 2018.
India has already signed the OECD's global standard for automatic exchange of information between tax authorities two years back and once the new format is implemented, the country will follow the new protocols envisaged in it.
Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
Switzerland's Ambassador to India Linus von Castelmur also said the past cannot be undone, while promising full support of his country in cases where at least some proof is provided on tax frauds.
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.
To curb the black money problem, Jaitley said that India would be entering into bilateral pacts with Switzerland and other countries for automatic exchange of tax information.
The funds officially held by Indians with banks in Switzerland now accounts for only 0.07 per cent of the total funds kept by all foreign clients in the Swiss banking system.
The Indian mrime minister supported a new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information
FATCA will facilitate flow of financial information between countries.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said the drive against tax evasion is an ongoing process and the government has taken various steps under a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the issue of black money.
According to a senior official, Sebi has written to various stakeholders under its jurisdiction with regard to the requirement of FIs to report under CRS.
India has been spearheading the campaign at international fora for automatic exchange of information with a view to check tax evasion.
India and the US inked a tax information sharing agreement under FATCA which will enable automatic exchange of financial information.
India has joined global efforts to combat global tax evasion.
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.
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.
The G20 in 2013 had unanimously agreed to a 15 point action plan to check BEPS
The finance ministry on Sunday highlighted its achievements during the past six months, including the Jan-Dhan Yojana, Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, and actions taken to curb black money.
This is the lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks ever since the Alpine nation began making the data public in 1997.
Identity of 427 account holders abroad has been established and 250 of them have admitted to having accounts, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revealed on Wednesday.
FinMin had, recently, notified changes in FDI rules that made prior approval of the government mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share a land border with India. Hong Kong was ranked 14th on the list of countries with FDI flows to India, contributing $4.2 billion between April 2000 and December 2019, the data from DPIIT shows. India received FDI worth $2.34 billion from China in the same period.
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.
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.
Concluding the three-part series, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta says that the black money law is likely to fail because of the ineptness of India's investigative and enforcement agencies.
Modi said his government is committed to ensuring probity among public servants.
As probe into suspected black money stashed abroad by Indians gathers steam, banks in Switzerland are running from pillar to post to safeguard their interest.
Arun Jaitley has promised a compliance window under the new black money law for persons with overseas funds to come clean.
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.
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.
'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.
Financial institutions at the risk of US sanctions as sharing of documents on SC directive amounts to violation of existing agreements.
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.
