The Income Tax department is mulling to initiate prosecution action for concealment of income against those black money hoarders whose names have allegedly figured in the classified list of account holders in HSBC Bank Geneva.
The department, after issuing summons and conducting searches in few cases, will now send to respective assessing officers the names of those entities who have either paid the taxes or have agreed to pay tax on the stashed funds, which came to light only after the department got hold of the list.
“On the lines of a similar action taken with regard to individuals whose names were found on the LGT Bank of Liechtenstein, the department is mulling to initiate prosecution action in these cases where information of such huge income was hidden from I-T authorities,” a top I-T official said.
Prosecution under the I-T Act can range from imprisonment and penalty of varying levels.
“However, these entities have begun requesting I-T authorities not to launch prosecution against them, a final view will be taken after a nod from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT),” the official said.
However, according to official sources, a number of cases under this list are still being pursued.
India has obtained data of over 700 HSBC accounts from the French government.
In 80 cases till now, the department has detected undisclosed income of Rs 438 crore and taxes of Rs 135 crore have been realised so far.