Black Money Trail: India Gets Data About Cash Stash
Black Money Trail: India Gets Data About Cash Stash
To unearth black money stashed away abroad, India has received about 24, 000 instances of alleged tax evasion and dubious funds detected to foreign shores in the past financial year. The cases are now being investigated by the taxman.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has set its eye on tracking the outcome of the classified data received from over more than 12 countries during the past fiscal year. The massive bulk of information on these foreign accounts and statements added to basic fledgling domestic connect in each of them has been received from the following nations- New Zealand , Spain , the UK , Sweden and Denmark.
Data accessed by the Press Trust of India and provided to the SIT by the Finance Ministry indicates the black money trail is being investigated thoroughly. The SIT is the special unit designate for the task placed under the Central Board of Direct Taxes with a total of 24, 085 pieces of data under the automatic tax information exchange route. This is also a legal treaty for the exchange of data pertaining to tax matters.
CBDT uses DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements) and the TIEAs (Tax Information Exchange Treaties) to obtain data and it has reported to the SIT that the figures have increased as compared to last year and are likely to "explode" in the future. "Automatic exchange of tax information is done as per the norms set by OECD," stated a report by the finance ministry. A Paris based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a global body for setting international tax and economic policies to be followed by over 34 member countries. This includes India.
New Zealand shared 10, 372 pieces of data with Indian authorities while Spain shared around 4, 169 and UK around 3, 164 . Sweden shared 2, 404 pieces of data and Denmark shared around 2, 145 pieces of data. Other countries which shared the data included Finland (685 pieces of data), Japan (440 pieces of data), Portugal (625 pieces of data) and Slovenia (44 pieces of data). Other countries which have responded to the Indian request for information in the last fiscal pertaining to black money include Mexico, Australia, Italy and Trinidad & Tobago.
For exclusive liaison with foreign tax authorities, CBDT has created an Exchange of Information (EoI) cell and strengthened protocols over last 3 years. The SC appointed SIT has been studying the matter thoroughly. Hopefully, it is now time for action.
