Indian Black Money in Swiss Banks Reduces

As per a report made public by the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the money deposited by Indian individuals and enterprises in various Swiss banks has reduced by nearly 6% in 2018 to 955 million Swiss francs (about ?6,757 crore). This is the second-lowest amount observed in 20 years.

Indian Money in Swiss Banks

• As per the SNB, the available funds are the sum total of the total liabilities of Swiss banks towards Indian clients.
• It has taken into account all kinds of funds of Indian customers at Swiss banks, including deposits from individuals, banks, and enterprises.
• This available data also includes the deposits made by Indians in branches of Swiss banks in India.
• At the end of 2006, available data showed that Indian deposits in Swiss banks were nearly ?23,000 crores. However, it has only reduced since then.
• But in 2017, the SNB data showed that the total liabilities of Swiss banks towards Indian clients had increased over 50% to ?7,000 crore.

How Indian IT authorities plan to respond?

• For the first time in 2018, Swiss Authorities will share detailed financial information on all Indian residents who have an account maintained by a Swiss banking/ financial institution. This data will be provided on an annual basis to the Indian tax authorities starting in September 2019.
• The IT department, on its part, has deployed a number of strategies to combat the stashed-funds menace, in both overseas and domestic domain. This includes enactment of a new law, making changes to the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
• It has also provided compliance windows for people to declare their hidden assets.