Black money: Govt to probe fresh foreign bank accounts

Sanjeev Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 9

The government will undertake investigations in all the new cases of foreign bank accounts held by 1,195 Indian nationals which have surfaced today. The government said earlier information about the HSBC foreign bank accounts was received from the French authorities in respect of 628 Indian persons and entities. Out of the 628 persons, 200 were either non-residents or non-traceable, leaving 428 cases of residents which were found actionable. For these 428 actionable cases the net amount of peak balance was about Rs 4,500 crore.

On the media reports about foreign bank accounts held by 1,195 Indians, the government said some of these names already figure in the earlier list available with the government. Necessary investigation as per the provisions of law will be taken up in all the new cases expeditiously, according to the Finance Ministry. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said new names of Indians with Swiss bank accounts have come up and their veracity will be checked while 60 prosecutions have already been launched.

"Some new names have been revealed whose veracity would be checked by authorities," he said here, while adding that the government had put in vigorous efforts towards digging black money during the last 6-7 months.

Jaitley said he had met top Swiss authorities, including Switzerland's Finance Minister, in Davos last month and it was agreed there that admission by the assessees would be considered additional evidence to seek details.

The government stressed that it has taken expeditious action in black money cases involving foreign bank accounts. Assessments have been completed in 128 cases. In the remaining cases, assessment proceedings are at an advance stage. Undisclosed income of about Rs 3,150 crore was brought to tax on account of deposits made in unreported foreign bank accounts.

Out of the 128 cases in which assessments were completed, concealment penalty proceedings u/s 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act 1961 have been initiated in almost all the cases.

The Income Tax Department is already in touch with the whistleblower, who apparently brought out the names of persons holding undisclosed bank accounts in the HSBC, Switzerland. He has been requested to share information available with him in regard to undisclosed bank accounts of Indians in the HSBC, Switzerland and other destinations and his response is awaited.