Amid a rise in Swiss bank deposits by Indians, the Union government on Friday indicated that the liberalised remittance scheme introduced by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram could have been the trigger for the surge, and asserted that strong action would be taken in case of any wrongdoing.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government would start getting details about bank accounts of Indians in Switzerland from next year under a bilateral tax treaty.
Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks (₹ 7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend amid India’s clampdown on suspected black money stashed away there.
In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks rose about 3 per cent to CHF 1.46 trillion or about ₹ 100 lakh crore in 2017, according to data released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central banking authority of the Alpine nation.
Mr. Goyal said, “the data that you alluded to will come to us, so how are you assuming that this is black money or this is illegal transaction”.
Citing media reports, he said that 40 per cent of the money was because of the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) introduced by Mr. Chidambaram. As per the scheme, an individual could remit up to USD 2,50,000 a year.
“We will have all information if someone is found guilty, [and] the government will take strong action against them,” he said.
The government had been taking various measures, including shuttering of shell companies, to curb illicit fund flows in the system.
On July 1 last, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about a record 45 per cent drop in deposits by Indians in Swiss banks. He was talking about the government's efforts to fight the black money menace at the foundation day of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).