Unpacking the Pandora Papers revelations BY ANINDA DEY OCTOBER 7, 2021 https://www.theleaflet.in/unpacking-the-pandora-papers-revelations/?fbclid=IwAR2lQgQYC2nljvsmb3ArIGOnLzbk4E48LcUyUhVny-E9LcOTNkL6odad3C0
Us and Them … After all We’re Only Ordinary Men
The names of 380 Indians and entities figure in the 2.94 tetrabyte data in the Pandora Papers, which contain 11.9 million leaked files from 14 international financial services companies that established around 29,000 shell firms and private Trusts for the wealthy and business entities in more than 200 countries.
In the biggest journalistic collaboration involving more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets, including The Indian Express, the BBC and The Guardian, in 117 countries, the investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed the name of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani as the biggest Indian defaulter in the list.
Section 41 & Section 42 of the Black Money Act Section & 5(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act become redundant if the assessee forms an offshore Trust that looks after his/her assets through a foreign company not directly owned by him. If there are several Trusts and shell companies formed by the assessee in obscure tax jurisdictions, it becomes almost impossible to trace the real owner due to stringent privacy laws of such countries. This ensures that the assessee’s foreign income/assets are not taxed in India.