A Swiss National Bank report seemed to suggest that Indian money in Swiss banks had grown over three times in 2024 to Rs 37,600 crore, after declining by 71 per cent in the previous year. Now, the Indian government has responded to the claim, saying the data in the report shouldn’t be “used for analysing deposits held by residents of India in Switzerland”.
“There are some media reports based on Swiss National Bank (SNB) statistics which mention that Indian linked funds in Swiss banks have risen in 2024 as compared to previous year’s amount,” Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary said on Wednesday in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
“The media reports also mention that as per Swiss authorities, the data in respect of SNB statistics includes, inter alia, amounts due in respect of customer deposits (including in foreign branches of Swiss Banks located in any country), other liabilities as well as amounts due to banks,” he said, pointing out that “Swiss authorities have clarified that the SNB annual banking statistics should not be used for analysing deposits held by residents of India in Switzerland”.
Switzerland sharing info with India: Govt
The minister went on to state that Switzerland has been providing annual financial information about Indian residents since 2018 under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework.
The first such data transmission occurred in September 2019, and has continued since. “India receives information about foreign assets and income from 100+ foreign tax jurisdictions. Whenever any instance of tax evasion is detected, appropriate action under Direct Tax Laws, including searches, surveys, enquiries, assessment of income, levy of taxes, penalties etc and filing of prosecution complaints in criminal court, wherever applicable, is taken,” Chowdhary said.
How much black money has India recovered?
The government said it has conducted 1,021 assessments under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (BMA), till March 31, 2025. This has led to tax and penalty demands worth over Rs 35,105 crore and 163 prosecution complaints.
“The tax demand gets crystallized conclusively when appeals, if any, preferred before CIT(A), ITAT, Hon’ble High Court and Hon’ble Supreme Court are decided,” Chowdhary said.
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The minister said that Rs 338 crore has been recovered against tax/penalty/interest demand raised under the BMA, between July 1, 2015 and March 31, 2025.
What was the response to 3-month compliance window?
Since the BMA came into force on July 1, 2015, 684 disclosures involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs 4,164 crore were made in the one-time compliance window under
BMA from July 1, 2015 to September 30, 2015. The government mopped up Rs 2,476 crore by way of tax and penalty in such cases, he said.
