Arun Jaitley lashes out regarding the deposits made by Indians in Swiss banks is black money

MUMBAI: On Friday Arun Jaitley the Union Minister lashed out at those suggesting that there was an increase in the deposits of Indians in Swiss banks was because of the black money and urged that those who were participating in the public discourse to understand the “basic facts” before expressing an opinion.

“To assume that all the deposits are per se tax evaded money or that Switzerland in the matter of illegal deposits is what it was decades ago, is to start on a shaky presumption,” Jaitley wrote in his blog.

As per the latest data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) that showed the money of Indians being stashed in Swiss banks gave a rise to over 50 per cent to Rs 7,000 crore in 2017, the former finance minister said that this news has led to a "misinformed reaction in certain circles" questioning "whether the Government's anti-black money steps have yielded results".

Asserting that Switzerland was always a reluctant state when it came to financial disclosures, Jaitley said the Alpine nation has amended its domestic laws involving all disclosures and settled for a treaty even with India and real time flow of information with regard to Indians would be made.

"The flow of information is starting in January, 2019. Any illegal depositor knows that it is a matter of months before his name becomes public and he will be subjected to the harsh penal provisions of the black money law in India," the senior BJP leader added.

In an article which was titled as ‘The Impact of the Government Policies on Direct Tax Collections’, Arun Jaitley said that ‘Indian’ money outside the country is of various categories.

“Past investigation by CBDT have shown that this includes many held by persons of Indian origin who now hold foreign passport, monies belonging to Non-Resident Indians, as also monies belonging to resident Indians who have made legitimate investments abroad, including transfer of money under the liberalised remittance schemes. It is only monies kept by resident Indian outside these categories which become actionable,” he added.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, earlier on Thursday, asked how the opposition was assuming that all deposits in Swiss banks was black money or illegal transactions.

According to the latest SNB data, the Indian money in Swiss banks included CHF (Swiss franc) 464 million (Rs 3,200 crore) in the form of customer deposits, 152 million Swiss francs (Rs 1,050 crore) through other banks and 383 million Swiss francs (Rs 2,640 crore) as 'other liabilities' such as securities by the end of 2017.