Lok Sabha Question No. 1643 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-10
Subject: Action Against Black Money
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1643

TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 10 TH  MARCH, 2017

PHALGUNA 19, 1938 (SAKA)

## ACTION AGAINST BLACK MONEY

## 1643: SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL:

## Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the estimated amount of black money within and outside the country along with the details of the amount recovered from within and abroad as on date;
- (b) the list of names of the black money account holders in various foreign banks along with the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Government;
- (c) whether the money laundering investigations get severely delayed; and
- (d) if  so,  the details thereof and the action taken or proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE

(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a): There is no official estimation of quantum of black money within and outside the country.

As part of  enforcement  measures, during the period from 01.04.2014 to  31.12.2016, the  Income  Tax Department  (ITD)  conducted  searches  in  1838  groups  of  assessees,  seizing  undisclosed  assets  worth Rs.2,607  Crore.  These  assessees  admitted  undisclosed  income  of  Rs.33,210  Crore.  During  the  same period,  14,472  surveys  conducted  resulted  in  detection  of  undisclosed  income  of  Rs.31,929  Crore. Similarly, during the period from 01.04.2014 to 31.12.2016, the Income Tax Department has filed 1751 prosecution  complaints  while  offences  were  compounded  in  2549  cases  and  75  persons  have  been convicted by the Courts.

Under the one-time three months' compliance window ended on 30 th September 2015, under the Black Money (Undisclosed  Foreign  Income  and  Assets)  and  Imposition  of  Tax  Act,  2015,  648  disclosures involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs.4164 crore were made. The amount collected by way of tax and penalty in such cases was about Rs.2476 crore.  Further, under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, the Government has received 64,275 declarations disclosing undisclosed income of Rs, 65,250 crore.

(b):  Disclosure  of  information  regarding  specific  taxpayers  is  prohibited  except  as  provided  under section  138  of  the  Income-tax  Act,  1961.  Further,  information  received  under  the  provisions  of  Tax Treaties with foreign countries is governed, inter alia, by the confidentiality clause in such instruments.

The Government has taken several measures to effectively tackle the issue of black money, particularly black  money  stashed  away  abroad.  Such  measures  include  policy-level  initiatives,  more  effective enforcement  action  on  the  ground,  putting  in  place  robust  legislative  and  administrative  frameworks, systems and processes with due focus on capacity building and integration of information and its mining through increasing use of information technology. Recent major initiatives in this regard includes:

(i) Constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money under Chairmanship and ViceChairmanship of two former Judges of Hon'ble Supreme Court,

(ii) Constitution of  Multi-Agency Group (MAG) consisting of officers of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for investigation of recent revelations in Panama paper leaks,

(iii) Proactive  engagement  with  foreign  governments  to  facilitate  and  enhance  the  exchange  of information  under  Double  Taxation  Avoidance  Agreements  (DTAAs)/Tax  Information  Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Conventions and furthering global efforts to combat tax evasion/black money, inter alia, by joining the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in respect of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) and having information sharing arrangement with USA under its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),

(iv) Enactment of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015' which has come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015 to specifically and more effectively deal with the issue of black money stashed away abroad,

(v) Enabling  attachment  and  confiscation  of  property  equivalent  in  value  held  within  the  country where the property/proceeds of crime is taken or held outside the country by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 through the Finance Act, 2015,

(vi) According  high priority to the cases involving black money  stashed  away  abroad  for investigation and other follow-up actions including prosecutions in appropriate cases.

(c) & (d): Appropriate action against tax evasion including in respect of money laundering, is an ongoing process.  Such action under direct tax laws includes searches, surveys, enquiries, assessment of income, levy of taxes, penalties, etc. and filing of prosecution complaints in criminal courts, wherever applicable.

*******