Group of 20 and the secret of real estate holdings

livemint.com:

real estate holdings that are sought to be kept secret. The aim is to improve tax transparency and compliance. This push could eventually lead to a new global reporting framework for property assets.

Mint explains. Tax evasion not only causes revenue loss to the exchequer, but also puts a burden on honest taxpayers. Indian policymakers have for long been worried about roundtripping—tax-evaded income in India flowing out, getting laundered abroad and returning in the form of foreign direct investments from tax havens.

In the last 10 years, the government has tried to fix the loopholes in double taxation avoidance treaties that India has with countries like Mauritius. Greater cooperation with tax authorities in other countries is a key element in these efforts to un-earth undisclosed overseas assets. In 2015, India enacted the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Act—the black money law—to penalize concealment of wealth abroad.

India also modified the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach domestic property equivalent to any proceeds of crime sent out of the country. It enacted the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act in 2016 to seize property held by proxies and prosecute the offenders. India also participates in an automatic global information-sharing system and has been exchanging information with Switzerland about bank accounts since 2018.

Till the end of 2022, under the black money law, over ₹15,600 crore of tax demand was raised in over 400 assessment orders. About 127 legal proceedings have been initiated, as per information available from the finance ministry. Information from the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers and Pandora Papers leaks are also being investigated by special