Kaalaadhan: NaMo, needed nationalisation ordinance. Why can't $ accounts be held within India?
Scrap Participatory Notes which are the fraudulent means to convert looted Indian Rs. into dollars and re-route the illicit wealth. For restitution of illicit wealth in tax havens, the nationalisation ordinance is a MUST expressing the will of the people which no tax haven can flout.
Kalyanaraman
Black money: SIT says govt can act against 427 foreign accounts
Probe team has asked CBDT to look into these 427 accounts that involve some Rs.4,479 cr of unaccounted for money
Tax officials have completed assessing 79 of these accounts and taxes can be levied on some `2,926 crore held in these accounts, SIT said. Photo: AFP
New Delhi: The Indian government can take action against 427 individuals or entities holding overseas accounts out of the 628 on which information was received from France, the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) probing the case of black money said on Friday.
The team, led by former judge M.B. Shah, had submitted its second confidential report to the apex court on 3 December, portions of which were disclosed on Friday.
The probe team has already asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes to look into these 427 accounts that involve a total of some `4,479 crore of unaccounted for money.
Tax officials have completed assessing 79 of these accounts and taxes can be levied on some `2,926 crore held in these accounts, SIT said.
Lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Ram Jethmalani had petitioned the Supreme Court in 2009 to bring back black money kept abroad by Indians. The apex court in July 2011 constituted SIT to investigate individuals and entities who had accounts with Liechtenstein banks, based on a list released by the German government at that time. SIT had submitted its first report on 20 August.
SIT in its second report has recommended a series of steps to restrict black money, which includes adopting a trade transparency system used by the US authorities, better monitoring of over- and under-invoicing in export and import transactions, and establishing an “institutional mechanism” to examine export and import data.
It has also suggested amending provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) of 1999 to include a provision to seize and confiscate property of equivalent value within the country, “if it is held that property held abroad is in violation of section 4 of Fema”. Section 4 of Fema prohibits acquisition, holding, owning, possessing or transferring of any foreign exchange, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India by a person residing in the country.
“This investigation will not proceed any further if this is the approach of the finance minister. The finance minister along with the attorney general are using the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA). DTAA doesn’t apply to dacoits, it applies to honest businessmen who are taxed under two jurisdictions. Person using this provision is a fool to approach a foreign government under this,” said Jethmalani, over the phone.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that while SIT had given several recommendations, some of his suggestions were not considered.
“When it’s clear that in so many cases there are illegal accounts, why are these names not being disclosed to the public?” Bhushan asked. “Our recommendations regarding avoiding participatory notes and compelling disclosure of owners and shareholders of foreign companies investing in India have not been considered. Further, if you need information from countries like Switzerland, you’ll have to pass a law saying that all Indians would have to declare assets abroad and anything not declared would be considered an asset of crime.”
Participatory notes are offshore derivative instruments with Indian shares as underlying assets.
On 3 December, Bhushan, representing Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, had asked the Supreme court to disclose names of 250 individuals or entities who had admitted to holding accounts overseas. The court had not granted his plea.
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/h3QSLG0gq4lXn5bgHTeBIO/Black-money-SIT-says-govt-can-act-against-427-foreign-accou.html
Black money: ₹4,500 cr lying in bank accounts abroad, says SIT
Wants PAN used in payments over ₹1 lakh, cap on amount of cash a person can keep
New Delhi, December 12:
Income Tax authorities have traced about ₹4,500 crore in undisclosed money in bank accounts overseas, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter said in its second report to the Supreme Court.
The report, released on Friday, said investigations are pending in 33 cases involving an amount of ₹14,957.95 crore, and that the Enforcement Directorate is in the process of attaching assets worth over ₹3,800 crore.
Of the 628 persons having bank accounts abroad, 339 have some money in their accounts, while the rest do not. And of them, 201 are non-residents or not traceable. In its recommendations, the SIT has proposed mandatory quoting of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) in sales involving payment of ₹1 lakh or more, to curb the creation of fake or bogus bills.
“The purchaser would also be under an obligation to ensure that the invoices he gets have the PAN number of the seller,” the report pointed out.
Cash purchaseThe purchase or sale of goods or services by cash is rampant, which undoubtedly utilises or generates unaccounted money in society, the SIT observed,
In order to regulate possession and transportation of cash, the team suggested putting a limit on cash holdings for private use and including a provision in the Income Tax Act for confiscation of cash held beyond the prescribed limit. Various European countries have such provisions, the SIT said.
“Further, for holding of cash/currency notes also, there should be a limit, by prescribing a reasonable threshold, maybe ₹10 lakh or ₹15 lakh. This would control holding of unaccounted money to a large extent. This would also control transfer of unaccounted cash from one destination to another, which at present is rampant,” it said.
It also suggested a statutory rule allowing the Income Tax Department to recover dues in respect of the property attached by the Enforcement Directorate.
(This article was published on December 12, 2014)
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/black-money-4500-cr-lying-in-bank-accounts-abroad-says-sit/article6686764.ece?homepage=true