E-cell call to foreign bank account holders: Notices, summons issued to marked persons in last 10 days

New delhi date. 31 January 2022 Monday

The Foreign Assets Investigation Unit (FAIU) has asked some individuals to share offshore bank accounts, residency status for the last two decades, passport copies and names since 2001 for investigation, revaluation and taxation. Foreign service providers are professional organizations that set up tax havens and trusts to keep money.

FAIU is a newly formed wing under the Income Tax (IT) department. The three persons told ET that notices and summons were issued during the last 10 days by the FAIU cell at the Air India and Scindia House offices of the IT department in Mumbai.

The recipient of the notice issued under section 131 (1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, will have to spell the name of the ‘identifier’ or 'guarantor’ of the bank account, if any.

He must also indicate whether the account was disclosed in the tax return. The tax was paid on the rupee deposited in the Shu account. Bank details have to be provided from the date of opening and closing of accounts and transactions along with source and supporting documents.

Unless data is requested for a wider period. Given the facts, it is possible that one could argue that such old records were not kept. Even notice of reopening under the IT Act can now be issued only 10 years later. Prior to April 2021, the period for reopening an offshore bank account was 16 years, which has been reduced to 10 years under the Finance Act 2021.