Germany-India Financial Data Leak Reveals Thousands Of Undisclosed Gulf Properties Owned By Indians

A huge cache of data shared by Germany with India has revealed information on thousands of properties in the Gulf region owned by Indian nationals.

The new financial data dump reportedly surpasses the scale of the 2011 HSBC Swiss accounts leak shared by France.

The Foreign Asset Investigation Unit (FAIU) of the Income Tax (I-T) department has moved swiftly and issued notices across 14 cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, to Indians holding undeclared assets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. “The offshore property holdings were not disclosed in the tax returns for tax evasion,” confirmed senior tax officials.

The data stems from financial institutions and intermediaries obligated to report under the Common Reporting Standard, which includes offshore asset data shared with Indian authorities.

The data includes details of over 1,000 Indians holding properties in Dubai and other cities in the UAE.

The information was obtained under the ‘spontaneous exchange of information’ clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).

Last week, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) warned taxpayers of a Rs 10 lakh penalty if they fail to disclose foreign-held assets or income earned from abroad in their ITR. The penalty will be imposed under the Anti-Black Money Law.