In a breakthrough in the government's efforts to track down black money held by Indians in foreign banks, Germany has given Indian authorities a list of some 50 individuals who have now been sent notices for tax evasion.
Highly placed sources in the finance ministry said that the government in Germany had sent a list some two months ago and notices were sent after scrutinising the same.
"Based on whatever information we received from the German authorities, we have issued notices to the tax evaders related to Indian context in February and March," a senior official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes said.
However, the exact number of persons contained in the list and the illegal money in the accounts of German banks could not be ascertained immediately.
The sources also indicated that information about these persons is being collected and other suitable action could follow.
The German authorities, the official said, had sent the list of individuals who had stashed money in the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein and in other tax havens.
"We have already taxed the amount. Retrieving the tax money will take time," he added.
The government had also initiated talks with the Swiss authorities for seeking information about the illegal funds parked in their banks.
Last year, Swiss authorities had shared details of over 4,000 account holders with the US, raising similar calls in India.
"We have been able to complete the negotiations (on tax treaties) with Switzerland... we have accepted the OECD clause 26 (article 26) earlier in our double taxation avoidance agreements", Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said in Parliament.
OECD clause 26 relates to exchange of information relating to taxation between the two countries.
The black money, especially the funds parked in tax havens, had become a poll issue in the run up to the general elections last year with BJP leader L K Advani declaring that if NDA came to power it would retrieve black money and use it for funding the country's development.
After returning to power for the second straight term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in July said that the government had already started the action for getting back black money belonging to Indians from Swiss banks.
