SME Times News Bureau | 13 Dec, 2014
The government Friday said Rs.4,479 crore is held in Swiss
bank accounts owned by Indians who figured in the HSBC Bank list and the Income
Tax Department has initiated action against 79 such account holders.
The concerned authorities are also probing cases involving unaccounted wealth
totalling Rs.14,957.95 crore within India, the finance ministry said while
releasing relevant portions of the second report of the Special Investigation
Team (SIT) on black money.
In case of money stashed in foreign accounts, the disclosure relates to 628
Indians, who figured on a list of account holders in HSBC's Geneva branch that
India has obtained from the France.
Of these, no balance has been found in 289 accounts, according to the SIT
report submitted to the Supreme Court.
"Out of the 628 persons, 201 are either non-residents or non-traceable,
leaving 427 cases as actionable," the statement said.
"An amount of Rs.2,926 crore has been brought to tax towards the
undisclosed balances in the accounts (79)," it said.
"Penalty proceedings under Income Tax Act, 1961 have been initiated in 46
cases. Such penalties have been levied in three cases so far. With regard to
other assesses, proceedings are pending," it added.
Prosecutions have been initiated in six cases for wilful attempts to evade
taxes and show cause notices issued in 10 others.
"In other cases, necessary action is being expedited and substantial
progress is expected in coming months," it added.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said at a function here
that proceedings in the cases related to the HSBC list will be completed by
March 31, next year.