New India-Swiss pact not for recovering black money: Mukherjee
August 31st, 2010 - 5:01 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi, Aug 31 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday made it clear that the revised double taxation avoidance agreement that India had signed with Switzerland on Monday would not help the country in getting back the black money stashed away by Indians in Swiss bank accounts.
“I would like to make it quite clear, that as far as Swiss laws are concerned, they don’t give any information of their banking transactions,” Mukherjee taold the Lok Sabha.
“Swiss laws on information regarding bank transactions are strictly enforced, and the only information provided would be for taxation purposes,” he added.
“Swiss banks’ transactions is so strictly enforced that only once in 1945, the assets of the Nazi leaders, who were subjected to November 12 (Nuremberg trials) were revealed by the Swiss bank. Before that and after that, they have not revealed any such information. This will provide us an opportunity to have the relevant bank information for taxation purposes,” said Mukherjee.
He further said that as the agreement is between two sovereign countries, India would have to agree to whatever concessions it gets from Switzerland.
The revised ‘Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement’ was signed between India and Switzerland here on Monday.
The pact signed by the visiting Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and Mukherjee, would help the government track financial facts about Indians holding bank accounts in Switzerland. (ANI)
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