The target of the recovery of Rs. 10 thousand crores from the Swiss bank accounts has already reached half way with the recovery of Rs. 3500 crore. Supreme Court appointed the SIT (Special Investigation Team) and ordered the Income Tax Department to recover Rs. 10000 crore from the Swiss Bank by the end of March.
According to the sources, under the supervision of SIT, the Income Tax department had already managed to recover the huge sum of Rs. 3500 crore from the account holders. These recoveries are expected to be done by 300-odd Indians who have evaded the tax and holding the illegal accounts in Swiss Bank. “There are around 300 Indians who have illegal accounts in the Swiss Bank. Although we have recovered around 3500 crores but since these are old accounts the assessment proceedings have to be completed before 31st March,” said SIT vice-chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] According to Justice Pasayat, this is just a half of total 628 Swiss Bank accounts information that is given by the France government to India. Most of these accounts are held by either NRI (Non Resident Indians) or it is legitimate accounts. “That is why we have gone public seeking information from all sources about Indians holding accounts abroad to stash black money. Half of the 628 Swiss bank accounts, information about which was given to India by France, was held either by Non-Resident Indians or were legitimate accounts. Rs 10,000 crore is expected to be recovered from the rest on completion of assessment proceedings,” Justice Pasayat said.
To avoid the tax evasion the SIT had recommended the tax evasion to be made a prosecutable offence that means the tax evaders could face the jail terms if proved guilty. “We cannot have a simple offence like cheating a prosecutable offence under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code, but allow tax evaders to go scot free if they agree to pay up after being caught,” Justice Pasayat said.
The SIT has also brought to the notice of the Supreme Court about the practice of false invoicing in the export-import business that is supposed to be the major source of making black money in India. Based on the available information the department started the scrutiny of the invoices and started comparing them with the other export import documents this led few businessmen to come ahead and pay the tax penalties voluntarily to the tune of Rs. 500 crore. “Under the supervision of SIT, the customs and excise department has initiated proceedings for recovery of Rs 15,000 crore in tax evasion just from his-invoicing. These adjudication proceedings will be completed within a fixed time frame and we can expect the money to come within a year,” Justice Pasayat said.
According to the SIT, the implementation of these measures will give the fair idea to the government of the quantum of black money being siphoned off outside the country through false invoicing of import and exports. The SIT vice-chairman said under its guidance, the Enforcement Directorate has attached property worth Rs 4,000 crore from persons who generated ill-gotten money through bogus chit funds and offences under Prevention of Corruption Act in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “Practically, we expect government agencies to net around Rs 30,000 crore within a year,” he said.
The above matter is the pure example of the fulfillment of the promises made by the Modi government to the people of India. In the due course of time, more black money will come out from the Swiss Bank accounts. Let’s hope that all the black money comes back to our country that will help in improving our economy. Please do leave your comments and suggestions on this issue.
Source: Various Sources [/su_expand]
