No Special Knowledge Needed To Know That Offshore Entities Are Used To Launder Unaccounted Money : ITAT

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has upheld an order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax holding Renu Tharani, a woman in her late eighties, to be liable to pay tax on over Rs.196 crore that has been stashed abroad in HSBC Private Bank, Geneva, Switzerland in the name of Tharani Family Trust, of which the assessee is a beneficiary. The coram of Vice President Pramod Kumar and Amarjit Singh, Judicial Member of ITAT, Mumbai bench was hearing Renu Tharani's appeal against an order passed by Commissioner of income Tax confirming the order passed by the Assessing Officer reopening assessment for the year 2005-06, by issuing notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, in 2014. After perusing through relevant records and the assessing officer's order, CIT concluded that Renu Tharani is the sole beneficiary of Tharani Family Trust, which is the sole beneficiary of GWU Investments Ltd. GWU Investments Ltd having an address in Cayman Islands has investment managed by Haresh Tharani, son of the appellant. Importantly, the bench also clarified regarding objections by the appellant on reopening of assessment - "As regards the decisions that reopening cannot be done for mere verifications, the present case is not a case which some general and vague information is received about the assessee, which may or may not lead to an income escaping assessment in the hands of the assessee, and which is thus required to be examined on merits, but of a very specific cogent information regarding a bank account, with complete details that is good enough for holding at least the prima facie view that income has escaped in the assessment in the hands of the assessee.