The finance ministry has indicated that any action on the Panama Papers leak will depend on the outcome of its investigations as there may be legitimate reasons to create a company in an offshore juri
The finance ministry has indicated that any action on the Panama Papers leak will depend on the outcome of its investigations as there may be legitimate reasons to create a company in an offshore jurisdiction.
“The International Con-sortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which has reportedly made revelations pertaining to the Panama papers leaks, has put a caveat on its website (www.icij.org) by mentioning that it should not be assumed that everyone who appears in the Panama papers is involved in tax avoidance or evasion and there are legitimate reasons to create a company in an offshore jurisdiction and many people declare them to their tax authorities when that is required,” the finance ministry said in a written reply in the Parliament.
It said that in view of this statement by ICIJ further course of action depends upon outcome of the investigation.
It said that the government has constituted a multi-agency group for facilitating coordinated and speedy investigation in the cases of Indian persons allegedly having undisclosed foreign assets and whose names are reportedly included in the Panama Papers leak.
The group consist of the officers of investigation division of the CBDT, Tax Research Division of CBDT, Enforcement Dire-ctorate, Financial Intelli-gence Unit and RBI.
“The government has taken necessary measures for expeditious investigation in such cases including through enhanced international cooperation,” said the finance ministry.
