No official estimate of black money in Swiss banks: Govt

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

The Government has said that there is no official estimate of the black money stashed in Swiss Bank for the last 10 years. 

The admission was made by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha on Monday in reply to a query by Vincent Pala (Congress) about the amount of black money stashed in Swiss Banks for the last 10 years and by when is the amount expected to reach India.

The Minister said media reports have not taken account of the way the figures have to be interpreted, which has resulted in misleading headlines and analyses.

Moreover, it is frequently assumed that any assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland are undeclared. Swiss authorities have conveyed that customer deposits held with Swiss banks are not necessarily located in Switzerland. Thus, the Swiss National Bank’s annual banking statistics should not be used for analysing deposits held in Switzerland by residents of India, he said.

Chaudhary pointed out that India is engaging proactively with Switzerland to obtain information in relevant cases under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Switzerland.

Both countries also activate the “Automatic Exchange of Information’’ every year based on the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement.

Chaudhary recalled several initiatives by the Government to make the point that if caught with black money, the penal provisions are more stringent. The Government enacted ‘The Black Money Tax Act, 2015’ not only prescribes more stringent penal consequences, it includes the offence of wilful attempt to evade tax as a Scheduled Offence under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). 

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money comprising two former Supreme Court judges are proactively engaging with foreign governments to enhance the exchange of information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements.

Chaudhary also claimed that India has been a leading force in the efforts to activate Automatic Exchange of Information on a global level which has led to the Government receiving financial account information of Indian residents in other countries. 

Till May 31, he said assessment orders under the Black Money Act have been passed in 166 cases, and demand of Rs 8,216 crore has been raised. Undisclosed income of Rs 8,465 crore has been brought to tax and penalty of Rs 1,294 crore has been levied.