Lok Sabha Question No. 2926 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-03
Subject: Domestic Black Money
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: TARIQ ANWAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †2926

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, 3 RD  AUGUST, 2018

SHRAVANA 12, 1940 (SAKA)

## DOMESTIC BLACK MONEY

†2926: SHRI TARIQ ANWAR:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government promised deposit of Rs. 15 lakh in the account of every citizen by bringing back black money stashed abroad;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)  the  reasons  for  the  failure  of  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India  in  releasing  its  data  regarding domestic black money so far?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SHRI SHIV PRATAP SHUKLA)

(a) to (b) : No Madam.  However, the Government has taken various steps for curbing the black money stashed  abroad,  which  have  led  to  positive  results.  These  steps  include, inter  alia ,  the following:

- (i) India has been a leading force in the efforts to forge a multi-lateral regime for proactive sharing of financial information known as Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) which will greatly assist the global efforts to combat tax evasion. The AEOI based on Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has commenced from 2017 enabling India to receive financial account information of Indian residents in other countries.  India has also entered into information sharing agreement with the USA under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of USA.
- (ii) Indian Government has been proactively engaging with foreign governments, for exchange of  information  under  Double  Taxation  Avoidance  Agreements  (DTAAs)/Tax  Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters/South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) Multilateral Agreement.

(iii) A Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money has been constituted in May 2014 under the Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon'ble Supreme Court. Investigation into cases involving substantial black money/undisclosed income, particularly black money stashed abroad, is being extensively and intensively monitored by the SIT.

(iv) The Government enacted a comprehensive and a more stringent new law, namely, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 that has come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015. Apart from prescribing more stringent penal consequences, this law has included the offence of willful attempt to evade tax etc. in relation to undisclosed foreign income/assets  as  a  Scheduled  Offence  under  the  Prevention  of  Money-laundering  Act,  2002 (PMLA).

(v) The  Government  gave  a  one-time  compliance  window  of  3  months  for  providing  an opportunity to taxpayers to make declarations of their undisclosed foreign assets before they were subjected to more stringent provisions of the new law i.e the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets)  and  Imposition  of  Tax  Act,  2015.  648  declarants  filed  declarations  up-to 30.09.2015, which was the last date of filing such declarations, disclosing undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs.4164 crores. An amount of about Rs.2476 crore has been collected as tax and penalty in such cases.

(vi) The  Government  has  taken  pro-active  and  effective  steps  whenever  any  credible information has been received with regard to black money stashed abroad, whether in HSBC cases, ICIJ cases, Paradise Papers or Panama Papers. These steps include constitution of Multi Agency Group in relevant cases, calling for definitive information from foreign jurisdictions, bringing the black money to tax under relevant law launching prosecutions against the offenders etc.

(c): There is no official estimation of data regarding domestic black money so far. However, the Government had commissioned a study, inter  alia ,  on  estimation  of  unaccounted  income  and wealth both inside and outside the country, which was conducted by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National Council  of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM).

The  study  reports  of  these  institutes  along  with  the  response  of  the  Government  have  been forwarded  to  the  Lok  Sabha  Secretariat  for  placing  them  before  the  Standing  Committee  on Finance. The study reports have been placed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which is now seized of the matter.

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