The income tax department has summoned Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani under the Black Money Act for allegedly evading Rs 420 crore in taxes on undisclosed funds of more than Rs 814 crore held in two Swiss bank accounts.
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He has been charged with evading tax, by way of holding undisclosed assets abroad, for the assessment years 2012-13 to 2019-20. The department has charged Ambani with âwilfulâ evasion, saying he âintentionallyâ did not disclose his foreign bank account details and financial interests to Indian tax authorities.
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The department alleged that Ambani âfailed to discloseâ these foreign assets in his income tax return (ITR) filings and hence contravened the provisions of the Black Money Act.
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According to the notice, the tax officials found that Ambani was an âeconomic contributor as well as beneficial ownerâ of a Bahamas-based entity called âDiamond Trustâ and another company called Northern Atlantic Trading Unlimited (NATU) which was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
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The notice said the trust got initial funding of $2.5 crore. The department alleged that the âsource of fundingâ for this was from Ambaniâs personal account. It found that Ambani gave his passport as the KYC document for the opening of this trust in 2006. The BVI company has an account in the Bank of Cyprus, Zurich. The department claimed Ambani was the âultimate beneficial ownerâ of this company and the funds that it has.
