India’s Finance Ministry announced a crackdown on taxpayers not reporting foreign income, a move that comes as Indian money in Swiss banks more than tripled in 2024 to 3.5 billion Swiss francs (about ₹37,600 crore).
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The income tax department is actively pursuing these non-compliant individuals. Thanks to various awareness campaigns and a system-driven approach, the government has seen a significant increase in voluntary disclosures. For the Assessment Year (AY) 2024-25, over 24,000 taxpayers reviewed their returns, and 5,483 filed belated returns, declaring foreign assets worth ₹29,208 crore and an additional foreign income of ₹1,089.88 crore.
Key Highlights of Increased Compliance and Enforcement:
- Growing Transparency: The number of taxpayers reporting foreign assets and income in AY25 surged by 45.17% to 231,000, up from 159,000 in AY24.
- Data-Driven Approach: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is cross-referencing data received through the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework with taxpayer-filed returns. This includes data from all jurisdictions, notably Switzerland.
- Alerts to Taxpayers: The department has sent SMS and emails to taxpayers whose foreign assets and income weren’t properly reported in their ITRs, urging them to review and correct their submissions.
- Global Cooperation: India is actively combating offshore tax evasion by receiving financial information from over 100 tax jurisdictions worldwide. Switzerland, for instance, has been providing annual financial data on Indian residents since 2018 under the AEOI framework.
- Strict Actions for Non-Compliance: The ministry confirmed that for those who continue to remain non-compliant, enforcement and statutory actions will be taken as per the law.
This initiative underscores India’s commitment to ensuring tax compliance and leveraging international agreements to track undeclared foreign income and assets.
