India will unearth illegal money stashed abroad: President
February 22nd, 2010 - 6:17 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) India will take all the steps necessary to unearth black money stashed abroad, with negotiations already on with a number of tax havens for sharing such information, President Pratibha Patil said Monday.
“India is an active part of the global efforts to facilitate exchange of tax information and take action against tax evaders,” the president told the joint session of parliament to kick-off the budget session.
“My government has undertaken a number of steps to unearth unaccounted for money parked outside India. These include amendment of the Income Tax Act, 1961, to enable the central government to enter into tax agreements with non-sovereign jurisdictions.”
While no official data is available on the quantum of slush funds, it is estimated that such black money stashed away by Indian nationals in tax havens overseas could be worth nearly $140 billion.
According to the president, steps have already been initiated for negotiating what are called agreements for exchange of information with major jurisdictions so as unearth illegal money.
“Re-negotiation of the Tax Treaty with Switzerland is in process.”
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India is among the 40-odd nations that have substantially implemented the globally accepted norms on exchange of information on tax.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has also ordered re-negotiation of all the 77 double-tax avoidance pacts entered into so far to get real time information and track tax evasions or stashing away of black money in other countries.
- India will ensure return of black money from overseas: PM - Mar 05, 2010
- India inks disclosure pacts with 9 tax havens - Apr 13, 2010
- India to join new convention to fight black money - Nov 04, 2011
- Steps taken by India to tackle black money - Jan 25, 2011
- Our effort to tackle black money relentless: Mukher - Jul 27, 2011
- India to review double taxation treaties to track evasion - Nov 10, 2009
- New India-Swiss pact not to recover black money: Pranab - Aug 31, 2010
- Government outlines measures to tackle black money - Aug 10, 2012
- Tax havens under pressure to share black money secrets: OECD official - Jun 15, 2011
- Government getting information on black money: Khurshid - Sep 26, 2011
- India, Singapore to amend tax treaty - Jun 24, 2011
- India renegotiating tax treaties to curb black money: Pranab - Sep 29, 2011
- India's cabinet discusses how to bring black money back (Roundup) - Jan 20, 2011
- Black money will be brought back: Manmohan - Nov 04, 2011
- Patil likely to press Switzerland on black money issue - Sep 29, 2011
Tags: black money, budget session, development oecd, economic cooperation, finance minister, global efforts, illegal money, income tax act, income tax act 1961, indian nationals, information president, joint session, organisation for economic cooperation and development, pranab mukherjee, president pratibha patil, slush funds, tax agreements, tax avoidance, tax evaders, tax havens