Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday that the government is making "all-out efforts" to unearth black money stashed away in offshore accounts.
Speaking at the India TV's 'SAMVAAD' conclave, he also warned that those who have not utilized the "compliance window" to declare their black money will face sleepless nights.
"We framed the anti-black money law and asked people to disclose their black money and pay 60 percent tax instead of 30 percent plus penalty. In HSBC accounts details, while the UPA government did nothing, we assessed the accounts and filed criminal prosecution against each person. We also assessed and filed prosecutions against holders ofA Liechtenstein accounts," Jaitley said.
"In Panama (Papers), there are two kinds of people. Few people have kept money outside the country with RBI's consent and few without it. Notices have been sent to all illegal account holders and inquiries are on," he added.
He said that during the year, the government detected Rs.71,000 crore domestic tax evasion.
"In our budget, I had announced that starting June 1 this year, whoever has domestic unassessed income, should pay tax with penalty and declare it. Till date, no government took such steps, you can say all-out efforts are being made to unearth black money," he said, also challenging the Congress to disclose what steps they had taken to tackle the black money issue.
"I challenge my Congress and UPA friends to tell me what they have done compared to our two year tenure to bring back black money. We are bringing back money through these steps and those who are not declaring through compliance window, will face the sleepless night," he said.
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Jaitley claimed the the direction in which government is moving is good for the economy and the country.
On the AgustaWestland issue, he said: "The bribe in the deal is clear cut. This is the first case in the world where the bribe-takers are behind the bars, the middleman has been identified but the person who received the bribe is yet to be identified."
Jaitley also said that his government will not compromise with Congress on the issue of corruption in order to get GST Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacks majority.
--IANS
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