Government ignores $1.4 trillion Indian black money holdings in Swiss banks

[Guest dada_rocks]

http://covert.co.in/appu.htm The UPA Government, despite possessing specific information, has chosen to ignore black money holdings of the rich and powerful Indians in banks abroad. All it has to do is ask for details from the bank, but refuses to do so. More intriguing part for me no voices raised so far even by opposition.. tsk tsk.. Are they busy over other issues, which by the way are aplenty, or is it case of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.. Details of illegal accounts in Liechtenstein’s LGT Bank can be made available to the authorities here, as the German authorities have the list of account holders and are willing to disclose the names. Delhi has not asked for the names. It prefers silence. The Swiss Banking Association’s startling disclosure that Indians hold $1.4 trillion of their $2.15 trillion black money deposits has also not elicited a response from either Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or his Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. DId I hear words like India is poor country:--D “It will not be easy to take any step to counter the generation of black money, as the first obstacle will come from the Indian elite and the power centres. What we need is political will and that is completely missing,†former joint director of CBI B.R. Lall told Covert. Mr Lall, who investigated the Jain hawala case and authored the controversial book Who owns CBI? The Naked Truth, said, “I had attempted to investigate and analyse the Swiss banking chain alone and had assessed Indian wealth in that single country at $5 trillion. There are some other well known ‘slush parks’ like St Kitts, Antigua, Bahamas, Isle of Man and Liechtenstein that multiply such holdings manifold.†Black money is siphoned off to these tax havens where banking secrecy laws ensure protection. Well known economist Professor Arun Kumar estimates black money generation in India to be currently 50% of the GDP. The growth of black money in proportional percentage to the GDP has shown an alarming increase in recent years, from 20% in the 1980s to 45-50% at the turn of the century, he said Experts point their finger at the new investment environment that shuns state intervention. “The retreat of the state in India has ensured that the restraint exercised on capital to keep its greed in check has been diluted and some amount of the black money is in the process of being legalised,†Dr Kumar told Covert. He pointed out, “In a free market environment takeovers are expected to be easy. Those who possess black money try to buy legal businesses to gain legitimacy.†The Mauritius route is well known to those seeking to invest their black money, and is also a major source of hawala. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told this correspondent, “Due to lack of stringent laws in that country there have been attempts to bring back black money in form of investments for gaining legitimacy. The Government should put pressure on Mauritius to implement laws that help in ensuring the veracity of the investments. However, this Government has done precious little despite having Mani Shankar Aiyar and Kapil Sibal in its Cabinet who were highly critical of the Mauritius route during NDA regime.â€[/B] Experts are deeply worried about the increasing influence and adverse impact of black money on the economy. They point out that these funds can be re-invested here to further illegitimate interests, generate inappropriate profits and as the recent events in Parliament have demonstrated, horse trade during and after elections. Security concerns in the context of terror funding have also been raised, but even that has not stirred government into action

[Guest dada_rocks]

ooops move it to politics please.. apologies

[DomainK]

Sounds strange to me as people deposit their money in Swiss banks only because the Swiss banks have very strict privacy policies. They do not disclose any information under any circumstances.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Truse but recently they have done this under mounting international pressure from civil society groups..

[THX_1138]

Sounds strange to me as people deposit their money in Swiss banks only because the Swiss banks have very strict privacy policies. They do not disclose any information under any circumstances.

i am guessing the numbers are based on economic estimates... to this problem of black money, we need to adopt the british solution of "nondom" status. ultra rich foreign nations are permitted to stay within british borders and are exempt from taxation in exchange that they invest some of their wealth in britain and stimulate the economy. while i am rigidly opposed to a tax break for the ultra rich, if anything i vehemently subscribe to the notion that the richer you are, the more your tax burden ought to be as you are rich on the basis of the less rich... nonetheless, if trillions of dollars lie hidden, then maybe the government can introduce a period of amnesty where individuals can withdraw those funds and invest them in india without fear of retribution. while it would achieve little in preventing tax fraud, at least some good can come of the situation... i suggest this since my own family exploited the voluntary disclosure scheme that was introduced ages ago to reveal hidden assets with impunity, and i recall that the scheme was quite a success!

[Desi Cartman]

i suggest this since my own family exploited the voluntary disclosure scheme that was introduced ages ago to reveal hidden assets with impunity' date=' and i recall that the scheme was quite a success![/quote'] I know that there are benefits of schemes like the one that you mention but its a disgrace that people had to pay just 30% tax where as people who are in higher income bracket in India usually end up paying more tax. I say offer these schemes but tax them at the highest rate. People who have a lot of black money dont have a choice/right anyway.

[THX_1138]

I know that there are benefits of schemes like the one that you mention but its a disgrace that people had to pay just 30% tax where as people who are in higher income bracket in India usually end up paying more tax. I say offer these schemes but tax them at the highest rate. People who have a lot of black money dont have a choice/right anyway.

what on earth are you going on about... cant decipher a word... please repost!

[Desi Cartman]

what on earth are you going on about... cant decipher a word... please repost!

I was TRYING to explain how the schemes like Voluntary Tax Declaration Scheme are unfair to people who pay their taxes on time & disclose their income.

[THX_1138]

I was TRYING to explain how the schemes like Voluntary Tax Declaration Scheme are unfair to people who pay their taxes on time & disclose their income.

no question about it... but enforcing taxation transparency and accuracy is another discussion... tax evasion is as much a crime as defrauding the populace in a get rich scheme... and therefore the relevant criminal proceedings that would follow. on the other hand, encouraging reinvestment of concealed and dormant funds to stimulate the economy is a different matter that benefits everyone!

[sandtest]

Well, we all know the deep rooted and rotten corruption in India and elsewhere in South asia, But, What about Switzerland and it's famous preaching of Morality in UN, IAEA, NSG etc?? Wowww...another hypocrite gora european country carries on with illegal, financial crimes in broad daylight with official government approval without anyone questioning the motives? Me thinks, all Asian Nations should demand in UN to shutdown swiss bank or condemn government of switzerland for running this black market hawala bank. Let's face it ...anyone can see the ploy of Gora west to use "nice" goody-good image of Switzerland for running and holding the corrupt and criminal goondas huge black money.....This is a clear support for corruption and money laundering to keep Asian countries in financial trouble as long as possible.