Income tax notice given to Anil Ambani for Swiss bank account, department demands prosecution

The Income Tax Department has demanded prosecution of Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani under the Black Money Act. He has been accused of willful tax evasion of Rs 420 crore on undisclosed amount of over Rs 814 crore deposited in two Swiss bank accounts. The department says that he deliberately did not reveal the details of his foreign bank accounts to the tax authorities. He was issued a show-cause notice in this regard at the beginning of the month, on which his reply has been sought by August 31. Anil Ambani's office has not commented on the matter.

Alleged tax evasion of Rs 420 crore

The Income Tax Department says that they can be prosecuted under sections 50 and 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Taxation Act, 2015, which provides for a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment with fine. Anil Ambani has been accused of tax evasion by holding undeclared assets abroad between assessment years 2012-13 and 2019-20. According to the copy of the notice available with Pretr, tax officials learned that Anil Ambani is an investor and owner of Diamond Trust, a Bahamas-based company, and Northern Atlantic Trading Unlimited (NATU), another company formed in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Undisclosed amount of Rs 814 crore deposited in two accounts

In the Bahamas Trust case, the department learned that it had a company called DreamWorks Holding Inc. The company had an account with a Swiss bank with deposits of over $32 million as of December 31, 2007. According to the notice, the trust initially received about $25 million. The department alleges that the source of this money was the personal account of Anil Ambani.

Anil Ambani gave his passport in KYC document to open this trust in 2006. The beneficiaries of this trust also include their family members. The company, formed in July 2010 in the British Virgin Islands, has an account with the Bank of Cyprus in Zurich. The department claimed that Anil Ambani is the wholly beneficial owner of this company and its money.

Anil Ambani's office did not express any reaction

It is alleged that this company had received 100 million dollars in 2012 from a company named PUSA registered in the Bahamas. According to the department, the owner of this company is also Anil Ambani. The department said in the notice, "It is clear from the available evidence that you are the contributor and owner of the bank accounts of foreign trusts Diamond Trust and DreamWorks Holding Inc. and the owner of NATU and PUSA." So the money and assets of these companies are yours. The Income Tax Department has alleged that Anil Ambani had not mentioned these foreign assets in his income tax return, so he has violated the provisions of the Black Money Act.