Lok Sabha Question No. 1126 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-26
Subject: Black Money
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Vincent H Pala

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1126 TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 26 TH  JULY, 2021

SRAVANA 4, 1943 (SAKA)

## BLACK MONEY

## 1126:     SHRI VINCENT H. PALA :

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

- (a) the amount of black money stashed in Swiss Bank for the last ten years;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to bring back the black money from outside the country to India;
- (c) the numbers of people arrested and charge sheeted; and
- (d) the amount of money expected to reach India and from whom and where it will come?

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

- (a): There is no official estimate of the black money stashed in Swiss Bank for last 10 years.
- (b): In the recent years, the Government has taken a number of measures to bring back the black money stashed abroad, which inter-alia, includes:
- (i) 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.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  Moneylaundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
- (ii) Constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money under Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon'ble Supreme Court,
- (iii)  Proactively  engaging  with  foreign  governments  with  a  view  to  facilitate  and  enhance  the exchange of information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs)/Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Conventions.
- (iv) 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 which will greatly assist the global efforts to combat tax evasion. The Automatic Exchange of Information based on Common Reporting  Standard  has  commenced  from  2017  enabling  India  to  receive  financial  account information of Indian residents in other countries.

(v)  India has entered into information sharing agreement with the USA under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of USA.

(c): Income Tax Department takes appropriate action under relevant laws against the tax evaders. Such action under direct tax laws includes searches, surveys, enquiries, assessment of income, levy of tax, interest, penalties, etc. and filing of prosecution complaints in criminal courts, wherever applicable.  The  details  of  prosecution  complaints  filed  during  last  5  years  by  the  Income  Tax Department under Income Tax Act, 1961 are as under:

| F.Y.     |   Prosecution complaints filed in court |   Cases compounded |   Conviction order passed |
|----------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------------|
| 2016-17  |                                    1252 |               1208 |                        16 |
| 2017-18  |                                    4527 |               1621 |                        75 |
| 2018-19  |                                    3512 |               2235 |                       105 |
| 2019-20  |                                    1226 |               1410 |                        49 |
| 2020-21* |                                     173 |                537 |                        16 |

Further,  more  than  107  prosecution  complaints  have  been  filed  under  the  Black  Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

(d): As a result of systematic actions, as on 31.05.2021, the following results have been achieved:

-  As on 31.05.2021,  assessment orders under section 10(3)/10(4) of the  Black Money Act, 2015 have been passed in 166 cases, wherein demand of Rs. 8216 crores has been raised.
-  Undisclosed income of Rs. 8,465 crores (approx.) has been brought to tax and penalty of Rs. 1294 crores has been levied in HSBC cases.
-  Undisclosed income of Rs. 11,010 crores (approx.) has been detected in ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) cases.
-  In the Panama Papers Leaks cases, undisclosed credits of Rs. 20,078 crores (approx.) have been detected.
-  In the Paradise Papers Leaks cases, undisclosed credits of Rs. 246 crores (approx.) have been detected.

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