Budget 2012: Foreign assets, accounts under scanner as shock therapy advised for tax evaders

Indians with undisclosed foreign assets and offshore bank accounts will be in for a shock this Budget if the finance ministry clears a proposal empowering income tax authorities to reopen assessments up to 16 years as against 6 years now. The proposed amendment, the ministry feels, may not only act as a deterrent, but also put pressure on people to declare their wealth stashed away in Swiss banks and tax havens. In the first estimate by a government official, CBI Director A P Singh recently said an estimated $500 billion (Rs 24.5 lakh crore) belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad.

Source: Economic Times