Business / Government says no official estimate of the money of Indian citizens companies deposited in Swiss banks

New Delhi :  How much money is deposited by Indian citizens and companies in Swiss banks. The central government itself does not have this information. Actually, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has accepted this in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Monday. In fact, in the Lok Sabha, Deepak Baij and Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar had asked whether there has been an increase in the amount deposited by Indian citizens and companies in Swiss banks? In response, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that the government has set up a multi-agency team (MAG) to conduct swift and coordinated investigations into cases related to foreign assets such as the Panama Papers leaks, the Paradise Papers leaks and the recently unearthed Pandora Papers leaks. ) consisting of representatives of enforcement agencies/organizations.

What did the Finance Minister say?

The Finance Minister said, "There is no official estimate of the amount of money deposited in Swiss banks by Indian citizens and companies. However, in some media reports it has been said that there has been an increase in the amount of Indians deposited in Swiss banks in the year 2021 as compared to the year 2020. What is the amount of black money allegedly deposited by Indians in Switzerland?

He pointed out that the Swiss authorities on this subject have already made it clear that the data published by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is regularly used by the Indian media as reliable indicators of the amount of assets of Indian residents in Swiss financial institutions. Keeps mentioning.

Sitharaman said that media reports have not taken into account how to interpret these figures, which has led to misleading headlines and analysis. Apart from this, it is assumed time and again that the money deposited by Indian citizens in Switzerland is undeclared.

Assessment work of 368 cases completed

He said that till May 31, 2022, the assessment work of 368 cases under the Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act 2015 has been completed and a tax demand of Rs 14,820 crore has been placed. The Finance Minister informed that till 31 May 2022, undisclosed income of more than Rs 8,468 crore has been brought under tax net in case of undisclosed amount deposited in foreign bank account in HSBC and penalty of more than Rs 1,294 crore has been imposed. has gone.

He said that 648 declarations have been made under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015 involving foreign assets of Rs 4,164 crore. This was announced one-time under the three-month compliance window scheme.

He said that the scheme was discontinued on 30 September 2015. An amount of about Rs 2,476 crore was collected as tax and penalty in such cases.