Lok Sabha Question No. 1800 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-13
Subject: Seizure of Black Money
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: S. Ramalingam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1800 TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 13 TH  FEBRUARY, 2023

MAGHA 24, 1944 (SAKA)

## SEIZURE OF BLACK MONEY

1800:    SHRI RAMALINGAM S.:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

(a) the amount of black money seized by the central agencies during each of the last five years, State/UT-wise;

(b)  the  number  of  cases  registered  and  conviction  secured  under  the  Black  Money

(undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the Government has recently signed any memorandum of cooperation and collaborated with any external agency/Government to curb the menace of black money

in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(d)  the  appropriate  methodology  used  by  the  Government  in  defining/measuring  the black money in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

(a):   The word 'black money' is not defined under the Income Tax Act, 1961, Customs Act,

1962, CGST Act, 2017, Central Excise Act, 1944 and erstwhile Chapter V of Finance Act,

2017 (related to Service Tax).

As far as Income Tax Department (ITD) is concerned, whenever any credible information of 'direct-tax'  evasion  comes  to  its  notice,  it  takes  suitable  action(s),  including  the  search  & seizure operations, to bring to tax, undisclosed income. The details of assets seized during the search & seizure operations is provided in the Annexure.

Further, the details of cash seizures made by the field formations of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), including Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), are provided in the Annexure.

The details of actions taken by ED are included in Part (b) of the reply.

(b):  The Government enacted a comprehensive and a stringent new law, namely, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (BMA, 2015) that has come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015. The offence of willful attempt to evade tax, etc.  in  relation  to  undisclosed  foreign  income/assets  is  a  Scheduled  Offence  under  the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), regarding which suitable action is taken by  Directorate  of  Enforcement  (ED)  for  identification  of  proceeds  of  crime  generated, provisional attachments and filing of prosecution complaints in suitable cases.

The details of actions taken by ITD under BMA, 2015 are as under:

-  648 disclosures involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs. 4164 crores were made in the one-time three months compliance window, under BMA, 2015, which closed on 30 th September 2015. The amount collected by way of tax and penalty in such cases was about Rs. 2476 crore.
-  As on 30.11.2022, assessments under BMA, 2015 have been completed in 394 cases, raising tax demand of over Rs. 15,570 crores. Further, 125 prosecution complaints have been filed under  the  provisions  of  BMA,  2015.  The  State/UT-Wise  details  are  not  maintained separately.

The details of actions taken by ED in relation to cases involving violations related to BMA, 2015 are as under:

-  During  investigation  in  13  PMLA  cases  in  relation  to  predicate  offences  involving violations related to BMA, 2015, proceeds of crime amounting to Rs. 42.57 crore have been attached/seized and 03 Prosecution complaints have been filed.
-  Further, assets amounting to Rs. 93.07 crores have been seized under section 37A of FEMA in 05 cases.

(c): The Government of India has entered into Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements /Tax Information  Exchange  Agreements  /Multilateral  Convention  on  Mutual  Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters/SAARC Multilateral Agreement ('tax treaties') with other countries which provide for exchange of information, which is foreseeably relevant for administration and enforcement of domestic laws concerning taxes. India has been proactively engaging with foreign governments, for exchange of information under these tax treaties.

FIU-India is a member of the Egmont Group, an international organization for exchange of information  and  Co-operation  amongst  Financial  Intelligence  Units  (FIUs).  The  group comprises 167 members as on date. As members to the Egmont Group, FIUs can exchange freely information on real time basis through a highly secured network - Egmont Secured Web (ESW) - on various matters as per their roles and functions. FIU-India has also entered into Memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with 48 countries to strengthen bilateral relationships with its foreign counterparts since 2008 upto 2022 for exchange of intelligence.

(d):  There  is  no  official  estimation  or  methodology  to  define/measure  the  amount  of  black money in the country. However, the Government had commissioned a study, inter alia, on estimation of unaccounted income and wealth inside and outside the country, through National Institute  of  Public  Finance  and  Policy  (NIPFP),  National  Council  of  Applied  Economic Research (NCAER) and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM). The reports and a detailed Government's response on them were forwarded to the Lok Sabha Secretariat for placing them before the Standing Committee on Finance. The Standing Committee on Finance, after due deliberations and taking necessary oral evidences, presented a preliminary report on the matter (i.e. 73 rd Report of Standing Committee on Finance) to Hon'ble Speaker of Lok Sabha on 28.03.2019 and this report has observed that ' the unaccounted income and wealth inside and outside the country do not appear amenable to credible estimation in the context of India .'

*********

## ANNEXURE

1. Details of assets seized during the search & seizure operations by the Income Tax Department from the FY 2017-18 to FY 2022-23 (upto November, 2022):
2. Details of cash seizure made in relation to evasion of GST, Central Excise or Service Tax (combined) during FY 2017-18 to FY 2022-23 (upto Jan, 2023):
3. Details of cash seizure made by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Customs Field Formations

| Financial Year           |   No. of groups searched |   Value of assets seized (in Rs. crores) |
|--------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18                  |                      582 |                                   992.52 |
| 2018-19                  |                      966 |                                  1567.07 |
| 2019-20                  |                      984 |                                  1289.47 |
| 2020-21                  |                      569 |                                   880.83 |
| 2021-22                  |                      686 |                                  1159.59 |
| 2022-23 (upto Nov 2022)* |                      438 |                                  1179.53 |

| Year    | State          |   Amount of cash seizure (Rs. in crores) |
|---------|----------------|------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 | Chhattisgarh   |                                     1.17 |
| 2017-18 | Gujarat        |                                     0.58 |
| 2017-18 | Madhya Pradesh |                                     0.22 |
| 2017-18 | Maharashtra    |                                     4.29 |
| 2017-18 | Rajasthan      |                                     0.76 |
| 2017-18 | Tamil Nadu     |                                     1.01 |
| 2018-19 | Chhattisgarh   |                                     1    |
| 2018-19 | Delhi          |                                     1.57 |
| 2018-19 | Gujarat        |                                     0.11 |
| 2018-19 | Haryana        |                                     2.22 |
| 2018-19 | Karnataka      |                                     0.09 |
| 2018-19 | Maharashtra    |                                     2.01 |
| 2018-19 | Punjab         |                                     1.24 |
| 2018-19 | Rajasthan      |                                     1.64 |
| 2018-19 | West Bengal    |                                     1.6  |

| Chhattisgarh   |   1.44 |
|----------------|--------|
| Delhi          |   2.36 |
| Gujarat        |   0.08 |
| Karnataka      |   5.05 |
| Kerala         |   0.27 |
| Maharashtra    |   0.22 |
| Punjab         |   0.21 |
| Rajasthan      |   0.73 |
| Tamil Nadu     |   1.09 |
| Uttar Pradesh  |   7.02 |
| West Bengal    |   2.67 |
| Assam          |   0.39 |
| Chandigarh     |   0.38 |
| Chhattisgarh   |   0.18 |
| Delhi          |   6.32 |
| Gujarat        |   1.11 |
| Haryana        |   1.31 |
| Karnataka      |   0.43 |
| Kerala         |   0.32 |
| Madhya Pradesh |   1.18 |
| Maharashtra    |   5.01 |
| Odisha         |   0.04 |
| Punjab         |   1.9  |
| Rajasthan      |   0.84 |
| Tamil Nadu     |   2.34 |
| Uttar Pradesh  |   3.24 |
| West Bengal    |   1.39 |
| Andhra Pradesh |   1.78 |
| Assam          |   1.01 |
| Chhattisgarh   |   0.8  |
| Delhi          |   4.21 |
| Gujarat        |   0.64 |
| Haryana        |   2.53 |
| Karnataka      |   0.37 |
| Odisha         |   7.48 |

|                       | Punjab        |   1.52 |
|-----------------------|---------------|--------|
|                       | Rajasthan     |   1.8  |
|                       | Uttar Pradesh | 207.13 |
|                       | Uttarakhand   |   0.44 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Assam         |   0.78 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Chhattisgarh  |   0.62 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Delhi         |   8.45 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Gujarat       |   3.5  |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Haryana       |   1.03 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Karnataka     |   3.47 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Maharashtra   |   1.57 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Meghalaya     |   2.9  |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Punjab        |   0.91 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Rajasthan     |   3.64 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Tamil Nadu    |   0.84 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | Uttar Pradesh |   8.23 |
| 2022-23 (upto Jan 23) | West Bengal   |   3.89 |

| Year    | State       |   Indian Currency (in Thousands) |   Foreign Currency (equivalent to INR in thousands) |
|---------|-------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 | Assam       |                             0    |                                              11.54  |
| 2017-18 | Delhi       |                           250    |                                               0     |
| 2017-18 | Maharashtra |                         11465    |                                          184590     |
| 2017-18 | Manipur     |                             1.93 |                                               0     |
| 2017-18 | Meghalaya   |                           167.59 |                                              12.707 |
| 2017-18 | Mizoram     |                           749    |                                             162.54  |
| 2017-18 | Tamil Nadu  |                          3098    |                                           60070     |
| 2017-18 | Tripura     |                         16666    |                                              11.54  |
| 2017-18 | West Bengal |                         27375    |                                               0     |
| 2018-19 | Assam       |                             0    |                                               0.31  |
| 2018-19 | Delhi       |                          2720    |                                               0     |
| 2018-19 | Maharashtra |                           212    |                                          334685     |
| 2018-19 | Meghalaya   |                             0    |                                             241.73  |
| 2018-19 | Mizoram     |                             2    |                                               1.453 |
| 2018-19 | Tamil Nadu  |                         23025    |                                           85350     |
| 2018-19 | Tripura     |                          3107    |                                              25.36  |
| 2018-19 | West Bengal |                          1916    |                                               0     |
| 2019-20 | Assam       |                           804    |                                               0     |
| 2019-20 | Delhi       |                          3300    |                                               0     |

| Maharashtra   |        0 |     172736 |
|---------------|----------|------------|
| Manipur       |     0    |      7.78  |
| Meghalaya     |     5.48 |    249.67  |
| Tamil Nadu    |  8521    |  84290     |
| Tripura       |  5610    |     16.309 |
| West Bengal   |  6408    |      0     |
| Maharashtra   |     0    |  32052     |
| Manipur       |     0    |     82     |
| Meghalaya     |     9.05 |      0     |
| Mizoram       |    32    |      0.053 |
| Tamil Nadu    |     0    |  30020     |
| Tripura       |  4533    |      6.198 |
| West Bengal   | 10566.4  |      0     |
| Assam         |    34    |      0     |
| Maharashtra   |  7709    |  68640     |
| Manipur       |   280    |      0     |
| Meghalaya     |     9.01 |   1307.87  |
| Tamil Nadu    |  4120    |  75390     |
| Tripura       |  2260    |      3.383 |
| West Bengal   |  8498.4  |      0     |
| Assam         |    50    |      0     |
| Maharashtra   |    32    | 288383     |
| Meghalaya     |     3.92 |     35.511 |
| Tamil Nadu    |  4250    |  89020     |
| Tripura       |  1968    |      2.398 |
| West Bengal   | 13760    |      0     |