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The Panama Papers: Investigation that got a third of total tax demand raised under Black Money Act
The tenth year of Panama Papers -- the pathbreaking global offshore investigation published by over 100 media outlets, including The Indian Express -- was the perfect occasion for Parliament to be briefed on the tax bounty.
In India, Rs 13,800 crore was subsequently “assessed to tax” due to the 426 cases filed in the wake of reports published by The Indian Express.
Tax and penalty demands for a total of Rs 41,257 crore were raised until December 31 last year after the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act came into force in 2015, the Lok Sabha was informed recently — of this, over 33 per cent was linked to the Panama Papers investigation.
In fact, the tenth year of Panama Papers — the pathbreaking global offshore investigation published by over 100 media outlets, including The Indian Express, in a series of reports from April 4, 2016 — was the perfect occasion for Parliament to be briefed on the tax bounty.
The investigation saw over 370 reporters from across the world collaborating with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to examine a trove of 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — and lift the veil on several opaque offshore shell companies created for wealthy clients.
In India, Rs 13,800 crore was subsequently “assessed to tax” due to the 426 cases filed in the wake of reports published by The Indian Express. It led to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to be set up to probe the revelations that also resulted in the ouster of governments in Iceland and Pakistan.
Paradise Papers & Pandora Papers
The publication of Panama Papers was followed in quick succession by Paradise Papers (2017) and Pandora Papers (2021), with The Indian Express once again teaming with ICIJ and reporters from across the world. On March 23 this year, the Lok Sabha was informed that Rs 14,636 crore has been “assessed to tax” from revelations of undeclared offshore assets in these three global media investigations.
Paradise Papers revealed a trail of veiled offshore financial activities, this time from a trove of 13.4 million corporate records, primarily from Bermuda firm Appleby, as well as from Singapore-based Asiaciti Trust and corporate registries maintained by governments in 19 jurisdictions.
Pandora Papers tracked 11.9 million leaked files from 14 global corporate services firms which set up about 29,000 off-the-shelf companies and private trusts in obscure tax jurisdictions and countries such as Singapore, New Zealand and the United States for clients across the world.
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Following the publication of each investigation, the Government announced the setting up of a Multi Agency Group (MAG) to oversee the probe.
The data on black money mopped up as a result of the three offshore media exposes was tabled in the Lok Sabha more than a month after The Indian Express first reported on these figures on February 25. Other related figures — obtained through RTI queries filed by The Indian Express — are equally important. Of the 167 prosecution complaints filed under the Black Money Act till end 2025, 46 were for cases tied to the Panama Papers, which is again over one-third of the total.
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