Modi Government promise kept; already recovered Rs 3,500 crore in Black Money

New Delhi, Feb 13: In a breakthrough, the Supreme-Court appointed SIT has directed the Income Tax department to recover Rs 10,000 crore by March 31st from 300 Indians who have illegal accounts in teh Swiss Banks.

SIT vice-chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat said,”Under the supervision of the SIT, the I-T department has already recovered around Rs 3,500 crore from some of the account holders. As these are old accounts, the assessment proceedings have to be complete by March 31 and we expect the I-T department to net another Rs 6,500 crore by that time.”

Pasayat further confessed that this is just a small portion of the black money holed up in French bank 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,” he said.

Justifying SIT’s stance for demanding prosecutable offence for tax invasion, Pasayat said, “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.”

He also said that chances of tax evasion increase in export-import business with incorrect invoicing.

Commencement of strict scrutiny of invoices and comparing them with other import-export documents had led a few businessmen to come out voluntarily and pay up tax dues.

“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 mis-invoicing. These adjudication proceedings will be completed within a fixed time frame and we can expect the money to come within a year,” he added.

The SIT is also reported to have suggested that import-export documents in India be cross-checked with those in the foreign countries to see if there is parity between the two.

Also, the Enforcement Directorate has attached worth Rs 4,000 crore from persons who have ill-generated money through bogus chit-funds and offences under Prevention of Corruption Act in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Officials said,”Practically, we expect government agencies to net around Rs 30,000 crore within a year.”