Govt probing assets, payments of Indians received abroad: FM

Details of assets and payments received by Indian citizens in several countries have "started flowing in" and are being investigated, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee disclosed today.

Information about wealth stashed away in Swiss banks by Indians is expected by the government before the end of the year, he indicated after pointing out that India had signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty with Switzerland.

The treaty is likely to be ratified by the Swiss by September and information about tax avoidance should be available thereafter.

Information regarding assets and payments received by Indian  citizens was now now under different stages of processing, he said.

Rejecting the opposition charge that the government was not not serious about dealing with black money, the minister told PTI that while previous  governments which included the BJP, CPI and other opposition parties had done nothing in this regard, the UPA had launched a five-pronged strategy in this regard.

Besides creating an appropriate legislative framework, the government had started renegotiations with 75 countries to get more information.  Negotiations have been completed with 53 countries or jurisdictions.