As Panama Papers name famous Indians, Arun Jaitley warns against tax adventurism

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, April 4, 2016: Amid reports of some Indians having unaccounted wealth in tax havens, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said those who did not take advantage of the compliance window last year to declare illegal assets abroad will find "such adventurism extremely costly".

The minister said global initiatives to deal with the menace of unaccounted wealth abroad will be in place by 2017, and then it would become extremely difficult for individuals to hide assets.

"With G20 initiatives, FATCA and bilateral transactions in place with effect from 2017, the world is going to be a far more transparent institution and therefore, this kind of an adventurism will prove to be extremely costly for those who have indulged in it," Jaitley said while addressing the annual session of industry body CII.

Jaitley’s statement came on a day when the Indian Express, based on leaked documents of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, reported that over 500 Indians, including some well-known names, figure in the list of persons having association with firms in tax havens.

Jaitley said those who did not take advantage of the black money compliance window last year to declare undisclosed overseas assets will realise their mistake. "I had come in for adverse comment including some of my friends here when in 2015 Budget, we had announced a strong penal law against illegal assets abroad. At that stage I had said that those who committed mistakes in the past are getting last opportunity with a compliance window in place," he said.

"The compliance window operated (and), many availed but probably some didn’t. Today when I see contrarian reports appearing (in media), which are not only impacting India... which are impacting the rest of the world. I think it is a stern reminder to all of us," he said.

Panama Papers refer to a massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents, which has exposed the secret offshore dealings of nearly 500 Indians, including actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, industrialist Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod, Indiabulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut, among others.

The list also names aides to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Chinese President Xi Jingping, a number of other world leaders and celebrities including Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

An investigation into the documents by more than 100 media groups, described as one of the largest such probes in history, revealed the hidden offshore dealings in the assets of around 140 political figures.