India to get Swiss bank details of Indians from Sept

India's fight against suspected black money stashed abroad will get a major boost this September in the form of first set of detailed financial information about all Indians having Swiss bank accounts, including those closed since last year.

The details that Switzerland would share with Indian tax authorities under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework, would include account numbers, credit balance and all kinds of financial income for each Indian client of every Swiss financial institution.

The first set in September would be followed by further despatches on a yearly basis, according to Switzerland's Federal Department of Finance (FDF).

This would be in addition to details already being shared by Switzerland with India for nearly 100 Indian entities, including individuals and enterprises, on submission of prima facie evidence of their financial wrongdoings, under a bilateral pact for administrative assistance on tax matters.

Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedhran also said in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question on Wednesday, that India will start receiving information on financial accounts held in by Indian residents in Switzerland on an automatic basis from September.

Besides, the India-Switzerland tax treaty facilitates receipt of the information on request basis for cases under investigation, he said.

Asked whether the government would reveal those names, the minister, however, said the "use and disclosure of the information" is governed by confidentiality provisions.

It is feared many Indians might have closed their accounts after a global crackdown on black money led to Switzerland buckling under pressure to open its banking sector for scrutiny, to clear the long-held perception of Swiss banks being safe haven for undisclosed funds.

The Indian authority would thus be able to examine the foreign financial account data and tax necessary action, if required, against the taxpayer.

The information would be grouped into three broad categories of identification, account and financial details.

The identity details would be name, address, date of birth and tax identification number, while account information would include the account number as also name and address of the financial institution.

The financial information would include interest income, dividends, and other financial revenue, receipts from certain insurance policies, credit balances and proceeds from the sale of financial assets.