The finance ministry today informed the Parliament that it has unearthed around Rs 44 crore from 18 individuals who had parked their money with the LGT Bank of Liechtenstein,a European tax haven. The income tax department has also raised a tax demand of Rs 24.28 crore from these individuals,Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. Assessments have been made against total 18 individual cases involving total assessed income of Rs 43.83 crore and total demand of Rs 24.28 crore (has been raised). Penalty proceedings for concealment of income have separately been initiated in all these cases, he added. He said that the German tax authorities have provided the Indian government with information regarding accounts held by Indian nationals in the LGT Bank under the provisions of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Germany concerning exchange of information. On the basis of this information,assessment proceedings were reopened and cases were centralised in different central charges in Chennai,Delhi,Mumbai and Kolkata, he said. India has information exchange agreements under DTAAs with some countries. However,not all of the 79 DTAAs which India has entered have the information exchange clause. Therefore,the government has written to as many as 65 countries for amending the DTAAs to insert information exchange clauses as per the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) norms to help curb tax evasion. As of now,India has completed negotiations with Bermuda,Switzerland and the Bahamas on amending the bilateral taxation pacts to seek information about funds parked in those nations.
