No list of Indians holding money in Swiss bank, FM tells Rajya Sabha

India has been told four days ago that there is no list of Indian tax residents holding assets in Swiss Banks in their own name or through structures, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday . However, the government said the Swiss National Bank on its website reported that the total deposit of Indians in their banks have increased about Rs 14,100 crore at the end of 2013 from about Rs 8,547 crore a year ago.

In a written reply to Shantaram Naik, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government wrote to the Swiss Authorities on June 23 this year after it was reported in the media that Indians were keeping large amounts in Swiss banks.

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In the letter under the provisions of Art 26 of the Direct Tax Avoidance Convention (DTAC), the government had asked Switzerland information in this regard that has been compiled by it.

“The Swiss Authorities in their reply dated July 4, 2014 have stated that there is no list of Indians tax residents holding assets in Swiss financial institutions in their own names or through structures,” he said. He said following amendments to the DTAC with Switzerland on October 7, 2011, India has made several requests seeking information about its nationals holding bank accounts in Swiss Banks.

“There has been a positive response to some requests, where information has been provided subject to the confidentiality clause in the said DTAC. In other cases, the Swiss government has not been providing the information requested citing restriction imposed by their domestic laws,” he said.

PTI