NEW DELHI, May 20:
The Supreme Court constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has received a new dossier on tax related business information on about 15 entities which have allegedly stashed illicit money abroad.
Work is also “in progress” in various investigation and enforcement agencies regarding 600 suspect names and addresses obtained from abroad by the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB).
The information about the dossier is part of a note prepared by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for the SIT.
The note reveals that tax authorities and investigators probing black money cases have decided to hold one-on-one meetings with their overseas counterparts based in tax havens and other countries to “deepen” cooperation in the fight against illicit funds stashed abroad.
The note also says that “certificates of incorporation” of 11 entities listed in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) report which were received from two foreign Financial Intelligence Units have been shared with CBDT for further action.
Sources said they have got additional information on about four more entities in this regard. The dossier is said to contain information about the circuitous manner and the route taken by the entities to stash money abroad.
The ICIJ brought out these names early last year while some additional details were published by the global group this year on suspected world entities holding assets and shares in overseas business structures, including those with Indian connections.
The note added that the probe with regard to about 600 suspect names and addresses which were obtained by the CEIB last year through its exclusive channels is “in progress.”
The official communication also spoke about enhancement of cooperation between India and Switzerland on these issues, a matter highlighted by quite often by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley himself.
“Switzerland has indicated willingness to provide information in respect of cases where investigations have been carried out by the I-T department independently from what Swiss Government considers as stolen data.
“This development is very significant because there are a number of cases of account holders included in the HSBC list which were investigated by I-T department independent of the HSBC list obtained from the French Government.
“Earlier, the Swiss Government had not agreed to provide any information on names which were included in the HSBC list on the ground that these were stolen data and have been obtained in breach of Swiss law,” the note said.
Meanwhile, giving a fresh thrust to their crackdown on blackmoney, Indian tax authorities have decided to cut down on lengthy paperwork and go for face-to-face engagement with their counterparts in tax havens and other nations to quicken the pace of recovery of tainted money stashed abroad.
The Union Finance Ministry, after due consultations with the SIT on black money and various financial probe agencies, has decided that a team of senior officials will hold bilateral meetings with foreign jurisdictions either in India or at the locations of their counterparts to thrash out issues quickly.
“The step is aimed to cut down on the time taken in paper-based documentation and communication in cases of illegal funds stashed abroad.
“A team of senior officials drawn from the Ministry and its various field formations will hold meetings and put across requests related to probe in these cases right on the discussion table. The required sanctions in this regard have been obtained from the Government,” a senior Finance Ministry official said.
The face-to-face engagements are aimed at understanding the problems faced by authorities abroad in parting with information related to black money and solve those at the earliest.
“Bilateral discussions, including through conference calls and face-to-face meetings with the competent authorities of our treaty partners which now include well known tax havens and offshore financial centres such as British Virgin Islands, Jersey, UAE and Singapore are being planned and the cooperation in this regard will be deepened in future.
“These bilateral meetings will help India in making targeted and specific requests for information and to understand the problems, if any, which prevent them in providing the information, and to examine how the same can be addressed,” according to a note prepared by the Central Board of Direct Taxes accessed by PTI. (PTI)
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