Multi-Agency Group On Panama Leak To Probe Paradise Papers
CBDT says investigation units of the income tax dept have been alerted to take note of the Paradise Papers leak.
The government has reconstituted a panel, which was formed to investigate Panama Papers, to probe cases in the Paradise Papers leak.
The multi-agency group will be headed by the chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, and include representatives from CBDT, Enforcement Directorate, Reserve Bank of India and Financial Intelligence Unit, the investigative agency said in a media statement today.
CBDT has alerted its officials to take cognizance of the revelations, its chairman Sushil Chandra told reporters. The agency will examine returns filed by individuals and businesses and whether they have made all declarations in their returns, Chandra said.
Details of all individuals and companies have not been shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and “the website of ICIJ suggests that information will be released in phases and structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation will be released only in the coming weeks on its Offshore Leaks Database,” the release said.
As many as 13.4 million files, being called the ‘Paradise Papers’, were acquired by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper then enrolled the assistance of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to investigate the data. Name of about 714 Indians appear in the documents, and among 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of the number of names, The Indian Express reported.
Panama Papers Investigation
Investigations into the Panama Papers so far have revealed undisclosed credits of Rs 792 crore, and a tax assessment will be conducted on this amount, Chandra told reporters.
The income tax department has identified 147 cases on which action would be taken, while 279 cases were found to be non-actionable, he said.
Chandra also said that enforcement action was taken in 46 cases, including searches in 35 cases and surveys in 11 cases, and criminal prosecution complaints have been filed in 5 cases. In seven cases, notices under Section 10 of Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act have been issued for possession of unaccounted wealth, he added.
The Black Money Act makes provisions to deal with undisclosed foreign income and assets held by Indians, and the procedure for dealing with such income and assets.
In 2016, over 11 million documents from the secret files of a law firm based in Panama, Mossack Fonseca were leaked by the ICIJ. The documents revealed names of over 500 Indians who allegedly laundered money through offshore companies, foundations and trusts.