Revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for management of Suspicious Transaction Reports and exchange of information with Financial Intelligence Unit-India - Income Tax - F. No. 290/27/2013-Dir (Inv. IV)/877

F. No. 290/27/2013-Dir (Inv. IV)/877 Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes ARA Centre, Ground Floor E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi - 110055 22nd September, 2014 OFFICE MEMORANDUM Sub : Revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for management of Suspicious Transaction Reports and exchange of information with Financial Intelligence Unit India 1. Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) from Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) have been found over the years to contain strategically important information useful for investigation, assessment and recovery under direct tax laws. Therefore it is necessary to ensure optimum utilization of such information in effective and efficient manner. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in this regard was issued earlier on 13.2.2013. Since then, inputs and feedbacks have been received from field formations, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed with FIU-IND and new experiences have been gathered. On the basis of these, the Board has reviewed the existing SOP and decided to issue the following,guidelines as the new SOP in supersession of the existing SOP for compliance by all. This SOP will be effective in respect of STRs of all categories (online/ paper or Category A/ others/ P1/P2/P3) which have not been closed as on 1st October, 2014 and all subsequent STRs till further order. 2. Registration of officers on FINNET: Since 2013, STRs are disseminated by FIU-IND to CBDT online only through Finnet at https://finex.gov.in . The Deputy Secretary/ Director, Investigation IV, CBDT, is the Nodal Officer for all matters related to STRs (as mentioned at Para 9.2.1 infra, Director of Income Tax (Recovery), New Delhi, is the Nodal Officer for all matters relating to exchange of information with FIU-IND for the purpose of recovery of taxes). The Nodal Officer, i.e., Deputy Secretary/ Director, Investigation IV, CBDT, will be the first gateway of Finnet in CBDT for all STRs. An officer, subordinate to him, is registered as the Alternate Nodal Officer , who may receive STRs online if Nodal Officer is unable to do so for any reason. Member (Inv), CBDT, is registered as Supervisor to Nodal Officer on Finnet to oversee the activity of other officers registered in it. At present, all DGsIT (Inv) and DGIT (I CI) are registered as Designated User on FINNET and dissemination of STRs to them and feedback from them will be online. All Directors of Income Tax (Inv) are also registered as Normal Users on Finnet but dissemination to them online is suspended for the time being till resolution of related technical issues. 2.1 Registration of new users: Registration of new users is done online through Finnet. (i) For registration, the name, date of birth, designation, office address, landline no., fax no., mobile no., official email ID of new user have to be intimated to the Nodal Officer at the Board, clearly mentioning that the proposal is being sent with the approval of DGIT , whereupon the Nodal Officer will register the new user on Finnet. Thereafter the registration printout will be sent to the new user who will put his signature, date and designation stamp and then send it back to the Nodal Officer, whereupon the Nodal Officer will put his signature, date and designation stamp and send it to FIU-IND. The new user is generally registered by FIU-IND within 2/3 days of sending by Nodal Officer and his name appears on the list of users in Finnet. The same procedure will be followed in cases of change of Nodal Officer except for that after signature of new Nodal Officer, the CIT (Investigation) or Member (Investigation) will countersign it before sending to FIU-IND. (ii) Here, official email ID means an email ID suffixed with @gov.in or @nic.in which may be obtained from CIT (CO)/ Directorate of Systems of Income tax department or National Informatics Centre (NIC) respectively. A new user cannot be registered with any email ID with which any user was ever registered on Finnet. So, every new user will have to obtain a new official email ID. It may be noted that having official email ID is an essential pre-requirement for registration and working on Finnet as all correspondence will be through this email ID only. (iii) While nominating officers as users for FINNET, care should be taken to ensure that the officer is computer-savvy and able to work on the FINNET on daily basis. Further, officers of the level of DDIT and above should only be registered as user on FINNET on behalf of DGsIT/DsIT. (iv) The names of all officers who acted as user at any point of time appear on the list as a result of which users at other stations may get confused as to whom they should transfer STRs to, if required, out of all the names that are appearing. To obviate such confusion, the Nodal Officer will circulate names of new users to other users immediately after registration of a new user. DGsIT will ensure that user-officers work on Finnet regularly and STRs reach investigating officers promptly. 2.2. Change of Registered user: Finnet involves a stage where 4-digit password is sent for every login. When an existing user is replaced, the SIM card, to which the password used to go, will change and hence others cannot work on Finnet. Further, unless the change is intimated to the Nodal Officer, the latter will continue to disseminate STRs to old users. Therefore, whenever an existing user is to be changed for transfer/ retirement/ training/ long leave for more than three months etc. reasons, the existing user will: (i) Obtain approval of the higher officer, on behalf of whom he was acting as user, for registering a new officer in his place. To illustrate, a designated user in the office of DGIT will take approval of DGIT. (ii) Then intimate the Nodal Officer promptly about the change and the particulars required for registration of newly nominated officer as mentioned at Para 2.1(i) (iii) Transfer all STRs handled by him to the new officer- failing which the new user will not be able to submit feedback reports online. Such transfer may be done by the old user or, if the number is large, by FIU-IND at the back end, for which the latter may be contacted. (iv) Train the new user about the procedure of working on Finnet, confidentiality aspects and give list of STRs accepted, disseminated and pending. (v) A note in this regard will be part of his charge-handover note. All STR related files/ important works requiring urgent or specialized attention etc. will be made part of charge-handover note by the departing officer. 2.3 The DGsIT will ensure that the designated user in their office complies with the guidelines at Para 2.2 above before he is relieved or allowed to proceed on leave etc. 2.4 When a user is replaced, he will not be able to inactivate his profile, if he has received any STR, till all STRs received by him are closed. This issue has been flagged with F1U-IND along with a few others and till resolution of these the profiles will remain alive on Finnet. 3. Pass-word and other technical matters: Working on Finnet requires access into two stages, namely, Citrix and Finnet. Access into Citrix requires user ID and password. Both are given by FIU-IND. Citrix user ID and passwords are generally sent by email to the government email ID. So, users may check their email inbox around 10 days after their sending registration particulars to the Board. If not received, they may collect it by contacting FIU-IND [Ph: 011-24109792/24109793 email: [email protected]]. Citrix password expires every 30 days and users should renew the password before expiry. In case the user does not renew the password before expiry date, and password has expired, then the user has to contact FIU Helpdesk to get the password reset. The Finnet login ID is the primary email ID with which a user is registered and Finnet password is sent by email like Citrix user ID and password. It expires if user does not login for 30 consecutive days. Hence, users must login into Finnet at least once in 30 days. If the password has expired, then user can change it when he logs into the application. These passwords must be noted securely. 4. Receipt and dissemination of STRs: All STRs will be disseminated online. However, top priority STRs may sometimes be disseminated offline through CD/print/email for prompt action. The Nodal Officer may accept or decline STRs from FIU-IND depending on their relevance and usefulness in CBDT. 4.1 Decline by Nodal Officer: Even though Finnet has the features enabling the Nodal officer to decline STRs without accepting, for the purpose of declining, he will first accept the STR, download the PDF copy, save it for record so that it can be viewed later as to why it was declined , enter brief particulars of it in the database of all STRs being maintained in .xl file, submit feedback in the designated page stating the reason for decline and then click on close for closing the STR. However, if the dissemination note itself carries remark by FIU IND that it is relatively insignificant and Nodal Officer agrees to the same on the basis of preview of facts, he may decline without accepting and saving PDF copy. In such case, Nodal Officer will enter in the database maintained in .xl file the STR no., date and the fact that it has been declined for record purpose. 4.2 Acceptance and dissemination by Nodal Officer to DGsIT: To accept STRs and disseminate them to DGsIT (Inv)/ DGIT (I CI), the Nodal Officer will first accept the STR, download the PDF copy, save it for record so that it can be viewed later, enter brief particulars of it in the database of all STRs being maintained in .xl file and then disseminate the STR online to the designated user working on behalf of the relevant DGIT. The .xl database will show the number of STRs disseminated to any DGIT on any particular date, dates of dissemination and the saved PDF copies will show full details of the STRs for future monitoring. The number as in .xl database will be compared and reconciled on monthly basis with the statistics furnished in the monthly D.O.s submitted by the DGsIT (Inv)/ (I Cl) to the Member (Inv). 4.3. Receipt and dissemination of STRs from DGsIT to DsIT; The officers registered as designated users on behalf of the DGsIT (Inv)/ (I CI) will accept all STRs that are disseminated to them by Nodal Officer of CBDT. They will not decline any STR . If any STR pertains to the jurisdiction of any other DGIT, the designated user will transfer the same online to the concerned designated user of the other DGIT. The designated users must open Finnet on daily basis, take printout of STRs and then send the printed copies to the DIT/ DsIT under them. However, in cases where STR is voluminous, to save paper and other resources, STR(s) will be copied in CD/ DVD, protected by password and then disseminated to the DsIT. At times when it is required to disseminate urgently, the same may be done through official email IDs only. It may be noted that the Income Tax department as well as Ministry of Communication Information Technology of Government of India, through several communications, have advised against use of private email IDs for official correspondence as these may be accessed by others. 4.3.1. With conversion of electronic copies of STRs into print, STRs disseminated online (categorized as P1/P2/P3) become similar to paper STRs (categorized as A / Others ) that were sent earlier before introduction of Finnet and merge. Accordingly, the following part of this SOP is applicable, mutatis mutandis, to paper STRs of Category A / Others also. 4.4. Archiving at the end of Nodal Officer at Board and other users in the field: The Nodal Officer and other users of Finnet will take back-up of PDF files of saved STRs and the database in .xl file on daily basis in storage devices like pen drive. Additionally, PDF files of saved STRs will be stored on weekly basis in an external hard disc drive with greater storage capacity. All such files will be preserved in safe custody with utmost confidentiality and handed over by outgoing users to their successors as part of charge handover note. 4.4.1 . Feedback reports will also be archived in systematic manner and preserved by Investigating Officers for 16 (sixteen) years in cases involving foreign assets, i.e., the period mentioned in Section 149(1)(c) of Income Tax Act, 1961 and for 8 (eight) years in other cases. 4.5. The STRs received in DG s office will be transferred within a week of receipt to the jurisdictional DsIT (Inv)/ DsIT (Intelligence)/ DsIT (I CI), as the case may be, after entering the following details in a register (electronic form in Excel or other searchable database with secure back-up): (i) Serial no. (starting from beginning of financial year) (ii) Name of the main person in the reported transaction (iii) PAN of the main person in the reported transaction (iv) STR no. assigned by FIU (v) Whether any other STR has been received against the same person. If yes, number thereof (vi) Date of receipt of the STR (vii) Category assigned (viii) Unit to which disseminated (ix) Date of dissemination to DIT/Addl/ Joint DIT unit (x) Date within which report from Addl./ Joint DIT unit has been called. (xi) Nature of action taken (search, survey, open inquiry) (xii) Brief results of action taken (concealment detected, tax collected, seizure etc, as the case may be) (xiii) Date of completion of investigation (xiv) Date of sending the report to jurisdictional AO, if any (xv) Due date for sending the feedback to the Board (xvi) Date of actually sending feedback to the Board (xvii) Other relevant details, if any 4.6 The DGslT will ensure that proper records of STRs on the above lines are maintained by authorities below so that the database is useful and the DGIT office is in a position for effective monitoring and onward transmission of required report/ feedback to the Board promptly. 4.7 Receipt and dissemination of STRs from DsIT to Addl./ Joint DsIT : The STRs received by DsIT in paper form or CD/ DVD will be entered in register in the same manner as mentioned in Para 4.5 and then disseminated to the Addl./Joint DsIT within a week of receipt. 5. Investigation into STRs : Online STRs have been classified as P1, P2 and P3 by FIU-IND. 5.1 Single File System (SFS) may be followed by all IT authorities for approval and other correspondence relating to STR investigation except for correspondence with superior officers sitting in an away station. 5.2 On receipt of the STR, the DIT will verify if there is any previous STRs or TEPs on the same person and if so, assign the new STRs also to the same Addl. /Joint DIT 5.3 The Addl. /Joint DIT will carefully go through the STRs and assign to DDsIT/ ADsIT all Category A /P1 STRs and also such of other category STRs which are felt by them to be important and requiring detailed investigation. Other STRs may be assigned to lTOs, While assigning, Joint / Addl. DsIT will keep in mind the following: (i) STRs involving relatively insignificant transactions may be identified for quick open enquiries and disposal. (ii) STRs, prima facie indicating potential of undisclosed income and requiring relatively detailed enquiry, may be identified with clear directions and extent of enquiries in a time bound manner. (iii) STRs, prima facie indicating potential for search/survey, may be classified in a separate category for taking further necessary action and the Addl. / Joint DIT will chart a plan of action separately. (iv) Joint / Addl. DsIT will not assign cases routinely but only with appropriate guidance or directions to Investigating Officers (IOs). (v) However, the process of assignment should be completed within 10 (ten) days of receipt by the Addl. /Joint DIT. 5.4. Investigating Officers will keep in mind the following while investigating STRs: (i) Before issuing summons, notices etc. an attempt should be made to see if the verification can be done from internal sources such as IT return, ITDMS, AIS, ITS, AIR, CIB, OLTAS, eTDS etc. so that the assessees are not called upon to furnish data already available with the Department. If the contents of STR can be verified with the help of these sources with reasonable satisfaction, the same can be closed without undertaking any further inquiry and feedback should be sent in applicable cases. (ii) If open inquiries are to be made, clarification of the assessee should be asked at the initial stage itself on specific issues. Notice u/s 131 (1A) of Income Tax Act, 1961 may be issued in accordance with the law calling for specific details necessary for the issues under inquiry. Calling for general details not germane to the subject matter are avoidable. Personal attendance should be avoided, as far as possible, Repeated personal attendance is certainly avoidable. (iii) No roving enquiry should be made. Production of books of accounts and other documents for 6 (six) years should not be insisted upon as a matter of routine. The nature and extent of enquiries should be commensurate with the facts at hand and the expected outcome. (iv) Some of the transactions reported in STRs may exist in the information collected through AIR/ CIB too. The same may be verified from internal database of the department and the STR information may be tagged with such CIB/ AIR information for already taken action, if any. In fine, before dissemination of an STR for investigation, it has to be tagged with previous STRs/previous information, if any, in respect of the same person(s). (v) Investigation into STRs or other form of intelligence regarding foreign accounts/ assets: (a) Checking assessee s residential status from return and verifying passport in respect of last few years till when 147 is possible [reassessment is permissible up to 16 years u/s 149(1)(c) instead of normal time limit of 6 years] (b) Checking whether he has disclosed it in return (from AY 2012-13 it is required in the return) (c) If resident: His global income is taxable. May summon and/or collect bank statement to examine the transactions whether there is any income liable to be taxed in India Whether the account was in existence in any one or more of the years in which his residential status was taken as Resident by AO. (d) If non-resident: Whether he has disclosed the subject bank account to any foreign tax authorities or not Whether he has been assessed as Resident/ Non Resident in any other country (e) Whether there is any issue that attracts launching of prosecution, particularly u/s 276C (1), in the case, based upon the proceedings that have already taken place. It may also be examined whether any of the prosecution provisions which are not integrally connected with concealment of income [e.g., 276, 276C (2), 276CC, 276D, 277 and also IPC provisions] attract in his cases for any year. (f) Whether there is any existing or likely demand for which we do not have sufficient asset in India and need to attach the fund abroad to protect interests of revenue (g) Even if the income of the assessee out of transactions in a bank account in a foreign country is not taxable in India in a year when his residential status is claimed as Non-resident because of Sec. 5(2) of IT Act, 1961, it is relevant to refer to section 142 (1) (iii) of the IT Act, 1961 under which Income tax Authorities are empowered to ask for details including a statement of all assets and liabilities of the assessee, whether included in the accounts or not. Hence assessee cannot claim that he cannot be asked any question about his funds abroad. It is therefore necessary to verify whether he has disclosed the relevant a/c in his IT return or any of the statements in course of search or subsequent proceedings under the Act. (vi) Enquiry and final disposal of STRs in Category A/P1 cases should be completed within 90 days of receipt by Investigating Officer and in other cases (P2/P3/ others) within 180 days, unless the DGIT decides to keep them pending. (vii) Addl./ Joint DsIT will monitor the progress of the work case-wise every month. Similarly, DsIT DGsIT will conduct monthly reviews at their levels, (viii) The above guidelines for investigation are only inclusive and not exhaustive. The Addl. /Joint DsIT may take suitable decision on a case to case basis for the situations not stated above. But in doing so, he will follow the general principles enunciated in the above guidelines so that the investigation process is expeditious and purposeful. 6. Closure of STRs: (i) Category A /P1 STRs will be closed by the Investigating Officer only after approval of the DGIT and Other Category STRs will be closed by the Investigating Officer only after approval of the DIT and only after the directions, if any, of DGIT/ DIT is complied with. (ii) STRs should not be closed merely reporting that search has been conducted - without stating anything on the investigation and usefulness of the information contained in the STR. 7. Feedback report on closed STRs: As per decision taken in the meeting taken by the Finance Minister on 5.4.2013, feedback will be mandatory on all Category A category STRs. Online STRs have been classified as P 1, P2 and P3 by FIU-IND. Later, it has been decided by CBDT and FIU-IND that in case of online STRs reference to Category A , as said by the Finance Minister, will be treated as reference to Category P1 as the percentage of both are almost same out of total number of STRs. Accordingly, feedback report to the Board will be mandatory for P1 category STRs in case of online STRs and for A category STRs in case of paper STRs sent offline. In addition, DGsIT may send feedback report to the Board in respect of any STR if they feel the findings or results of investigation to be significant in them. 7.1 The feedback in case of old paper STRs (Category A or others) will be in prescribed proforma, copy of which is enclosed. In case of online STRs (P1, P2 and P3) feedback will be given first through Finnet online, without which the STR will not get closed, and then through prescribed paper proforma as in case of paper STRs (Category A or others). This is because online feedback will go to FIU-IND and authorities in the Board will not be able to see feedback reports. 7.2. The following guidelines may be followed while preparing feed-back report in prescribed pro forma: (i) At the top of feedback form : Name and PAN of the main person, in respect of whom the STR transactions pertain, have to be mentioned. (ii) Para - 1.1 : Against FIU-IND case reference number , the STR number must be written correctly to save from problem in database maintenance, matching feedback with STR and reporting. (iii) Para - 2 : Comments in different paragraphs like that against Was the information found useful? in Para - 1.3 and that in Para - 2 should be compatible and not contradictory to each other. Such report is obviously contradictory, incorrect and misleading. (iv) Para - 2 : against Usefulness of information there are following options: Para -2.1 : Identification of a new case Para -2.2 : Investigation of an existing case Para -2.3 : Identification of unexplained assets Para - 2.4 : Initiation of prosecution Para -2.5 : Assistance in ongoing prosecution If Y is written in Para - 1.3, any one or more of Para - 2.1 to 2.5 must be Y and the reporting officer must select the applicable option out of these. Also, in cases where Y is written in Para - 2.1 to 2.5, some elaboration will be made in Para - 5 ( Comments/ Suggestions ). Further, in most of the cases either 2.1 or 2.2 should be yes . The same needs to be reported carefully. (v) Para-3: Appropriate column (N/U/C) should be filled and supported by the comments to be given in Para - 5 (vi) Para-4 : (a) In Para 4.1, against Unaccounted assets/ income identified , large amounts should not be reported as unaccounted income treating, e.g., all debits credits of bank account as income without due verification/application of mind merely because explanation from concerned person was either lacking or found to be unsatisfactory. (b) Para- 4.4 4.5: Taxes / demands/ dues imposed or Penalties / Fines imposed in Para - 4.4 4.5 should be precise and not general or vague like Assessing Officer is learnt to have raised huge demand (vii) Para -5: (a) In the opening sentence(s) summary of facts contained in STR, for which the transaction was considered as suspicious , is to be stated very briefly. (b) Nature of business/ profession may be mentioned. If no business/ profession existed, then source of credit entries and/ or purpose of debit entries may be mentioned. (c) At least some investigation, which can enable to draw an inference, must be done before writing feedback. If investigated, whether the suspicions have been found to be true partly or fully may be mentioned. (d) It may be specified whether investigation has prima facie indicated existence of transactions not recorded in books of accounts/Returns. If so whether quantification has been done and indicated in Para 4. (e) In a large number of investigations emanating from STRs, the final outcome is for undisclosed income of amounts which are much larger than the amount(s) of transaction reported in STR. In such a situation the amount in STR and the total amount of undisclosed income ascertained in enquiries may be clearly brought out. Further, important findings of investigation over and above those available in STR, should be mentioned in brief. (f) Brief details of prima facie evidence suggesting violation of other statutes like FEMA, Customs Act, Central Excise Act, Service Tax Act, if any, may be mentioned. (g) If STR has led to any search or survey, the same needs to be specifically mentioned. (h) If the space in the box provided for comment in the proforma introduced by FIU- IND is found inadequate, the space of the box may be extended, but to the minimum required extent only. In any case, comments in this pro forma must not exceed 1 (one) page of A4 size paper. (i) The date of sending the Investigation report, if any, to the AO must be mentioned with identifiable designation of the AO. (j) In several cases it has been found that investigating officer commented that STR information has been passed to jurisdictional Assessing Officer . Information of STR along with findings of investigation by investigating officer will be sent to jurisdictional Assessing Officer only after conclusion of enquiries, if findings suggest fair possibility of assessment of additional income/ wealth and not without enquiry. (k) On conclusion of inquiries, if the findings suggest fair possibility of assessment of additional income/wealth, a report should be sent to the AO with copies to the Range Head CIT concerned along with all the relevant supporting material for further necessary action. In the feedback reports to the Board, the dates of sending the findings of investigation to Assessing Officer with copies to the Range Head CIT concerned must be invariably mentioned. (l) Even if any search / survey has been conducted before or after receipt of STR(s), it must be reported what was the date and whether the information contained in STR has been considered in course of search/ survey. (viii) All fields in feedback form will be filled duly and none will be left blank. (ix) Feedback report will be only in the prescribed format. (x) Some of feedback reports received by the Board are consolidated reports in respect of multiple numbers of STRs. As far as possible, separate reports should be sent in respect of each STR. Clubbing of feedback reports may be resorted to only in exceptional cases, if relevant STRs involved coordinated investigation due to intricately linked issues. (xi) Feedback reports may be sent only after some conclusion is drawn in respect of the investigation and interim reports will NOT be sent with comments like Investigation under progress unless interim report is called for and the same will not count as disposal. (xii) Feedback reports will be sent to the Nodal Officer in the Board viz., Deputy Secretary/Director (investigation IV), CBDT. (xiii) It is seen that, in many cases, letters of all the lower authorities are enclosed along with the letter of DGsIT to the Board. It may be noted that the letters of authorities lower to the DGsIT are for the satisfaction of the latter only. Accordingly, letters of authorities below should not be forwarded to the Board. The DGIT will forward only the feedback reports signed by investigating officers under him after he (in Cat. A/ P1 cases) or DIT (in others) has accorded approval for closure. 7.3. The DGIT will closely monitor receipt, dissemination, investigation, disposal, reporting and confidentiality of STRs and include the progress report in the monthly D.O. to the Member (Inv) which is to reach him before 10th of the following month. Such progress report may include the particulars mentioned at Para 8 below. 8. Reporting in monthly D.O : Statistical report in respect of STRs and foreign intelligence will be furnished by DGslT in the enclosed pro forma as a part of their monthly D.O. to Member (Inv). Narrative part in the D.O. may not repeat the statistical part as in the pro forma. DGIT may mention in the narrative part his performance / achievement vis-a-vis his action plan in respect of expeditious disposal of STRs. 9. Getting information from FIU-IND on request basis : Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU IND) is the designated authority under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) to receive information from different reporting entities. Accordingly, it has a database of, inter alia, bank accounts and transactions therein, transaction in securities, insurance premium paid on policies etc. 9.1 FIU-IND shares information spontaneously with, inter alia, CBDT under Section 66 of PMLA. Also, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and FIU-IND have executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for exchange of information. On the basis of these, Income Tax authorities under CBDT can seek information from FIU-IND for both domestic bank accounts etc. as well as those from foreign countries. Such information may be useful for recovery from bank accounts hitherto unknown to Income Tax authorities or bringing to tax the transactions that might have been done through undisclosed bank account(s). 9.2 The following guidelines may be followed by all Income Tax authorities in the field formations while requesting FIU-IND for information: 9.2.1. For the purpose of exchange of information between CBDT and FIU-IND, the following two officers have been designated as Nodal Officers, namely; (a) Director of Income Tax (Recovery), Mayur Bhawan (6th Floor), Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001 (b) Deputy Secretary/ Director (Investigation IV), Central Board of Direct Taxes, ARA Centre (Ground Floor), E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi - 110055 9.2.2 The Director of Income Tax (Recovery), Mayur Bhawan (6th Floor), Connaught Circus, New Delhi - 110001, is the Nodal Officer on behalf of CBDT for exchange of information with FIU-IND in the matter of recovery of tax demands under direct tax laws. Accordingly, Income Tax authorities in the field formations, intending to seek information from FIU IND about bank accounts or transactions therein/ insurance policies and premiums paid/ securities transactions for the purpose of recovery of demands, will send their requests addressed to the Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India, Samrat Hotel (6th Floor), Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi -110021, through the Director of Income Tax (Recovery), Mayur Bhawan (6th Floor), Connaught Circus, New Delhi - 110001. Such requests will be made only after obtaining approval from an officer of the level of Joint Commissioner of Income Tax or above if the requesting officer is of a level below Joint Commissioner / Joint Director of Income Tax. As per the decision taken by CBDT and FIU-IND, Director of Income Tax (Recovery) has been allotted a separate node on online FINNET platform at https://finex.gov.in. The officer registered as the user on behalf of Director of Income Tax (Recovery) on FINNET will forward the requests to FIU-IND normally through FINNET, unless required to do otherwise for some unavoidable reasons. 9.2.3. The Deputy Secretary/ Director (Investigation IV), ARA Centre (Ground Floor), E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi - 110055, is the Nodal Officer on behalf of CBDT in the matter of exchange of information between CBDT and FIU-IND in matters other than recovery of taxes as mentioned in Para 4 supra, e.g., verification/ investigation of bank accounts etc. in course of assessment proceedings, pre- and post-search enquiries etc. Requests for information in such matters may be made either online or offline. 9.2.4. The online request may be made through the DDsIT/ JDsIT/ Addl DsIT (Inv) at the offices of all DGsIT (Inv)/ DGIT (I CI) who are registered as Designated User on FINNET. Income Tax authorities in field formations may send their requests to the DGsIT (Inv) of their respective territorial jurisdiction. On receipt of such request the designated users at the offices of DGsIT (Inv) may, upload the requests on FINNET and coordinate with FIU-IND through email at [email protected] or its Helpline Phone No. 011-24109792/93. 9.2.5. Online request has several advantages inasmuch as it has facility for uploading individual request very fast in paperless manner as well as for uploading bulk requests in respect of large number of persons/ entities at a time by entering all data in .xml file (format is available on Finnet website) and uploading the said file on FINNET. Responses to such requests may be sent by FIU-IND to such requesting designated users online, upon which the designated users may forward the same to the requesting officers. However, if for any technical reasons such requests cannot be sent to FIU-IND online, the printed copies may be sent by post to FIU-IND. 9.2.6. However, Income Tax authorities in field formations, who are unable to send such requests online through the designated users in the offices of DGsIT (Inv) for geographical distance or other unavoidable reasons, may send the requests in print to the Nodal Officer in CBDT, namely, Deputy Secretary/ Director (Investigation IV), ARA Centre (Ground Floor), E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi - 110055, after obtaining approval from an officer of the level of Joint Commissioner of Income Tax or above, if the requesting officer is of a level below Joint Commissioner / Joint Director of Income Tax. On receipt of such physical requests, the same will be forwarded by the Nodal Officer to FIU-IND. As decided by CBDT and FIU-IND, responses of FIU-IND to such physical requests will be sent directly to the requesting officers with copy to the Nodal officer at CBDT, namely, Deputy Secretary/ Director (Investigation IV). 9.2.7. Information may be sought from foreign countries also through FIU-IND, which represents Government of India to Egmont group based in The Hague. To seek information from foreign countries through FIU-IND, requests may be made to The Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India, Samrat Hotel (6th Floor), Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110021 through the Deputy Secretary/ Director (Investigation IV), ARA Centre (Ground Floor), E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi 110055 in the prescribed format which is enclosed herewith . 9.3. It has been decided that FIU-IND will send responses to all requests for information for the purpose of recovery of taxes to the Nodal Officer, namely, the Director of Income Tax (Recovery), through FINNET or otherwise, who will disseminate it further to requesting officers. 10. Confidentiality : It may be noted by all Income tax authorities in field formations that information received from FIU-IND is confidential and utmost confidentiality must be maintained in handling and custody of such information. It will be protected from unauthorised use and proliferation and kept confidential. The information received from FIU-IND, domestic as well as foreign, will be treated as intelligence and the same may be further developed by the department s own investigation. In consequence, FIU-IND will not be mentioned as the source of information in any place or occasion or document like assessment order/ correspondence etc. except when required by a competent court of law. Within the department, such information and documents will NOT go to the custody of any official below the level of Income-Tax Officer (ITO); that too only when authorized. However, information and documents received from foreign countries either spontaneously or on request will NOT go to the custody of any official below the level of Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (ACIT); that too only when authorized. 10.1. As per Para 5.17 of media policy dated 31.1.2014 circulated by the Board (URL link: http://www.irsofficersonIine.gov.in/Documents/OfficalCommunique/125201422553. pdf) it is only the Member (Inv), CBDT, who is authorized to speak to media on search seizure, special investigation, I CI and other issues and actions pertaining to Investigation wing. Hence, no other official will interact with media on these issues. 10.2. In the assessment orders and other communications AOs/ Addl CsIT/ CsIT or DDsIT/ Addl. DsIT/ DsIT may not refer to the source of the information and name of FIU should not be mentioned. Illustratively, it may be mentioned that credible information/ source Information has been received to the effect that....... . 103. DGsIT (Investigation) and (I CI) will organize workshop(s) every year after AGT (Annual General Transfer) at Board level and CCA level but not later than 30th September of every year to make all officials of the levels of Inspector and above - especially those who are newly transferred to Directorate of Investigation - under their jurisdiction aware and sensitized, about requirement of extra-confidentiality in Directorate of Investigation and consequences of failure. The relevant rules, regulations and government orders should be made part of the deliberations in such awareness-cum-sensitisation workshop. Director Generals of Income Tax (Investigation) and (I CI) will make such workshop a part of their internal action plan for every year and report in their monthly D.O after completion of the same. (Syamal Datta) Deputy Secretary to the Government of India (Investigation IV), CBDT Tel : 011-23519408 End : (i) Pro-forma for feedback report (ii) Pro-forma for statistical report in monthly D.O. (iii) Pro-forma for request for information from foreign countries through FIU-IND under Egmont principle All Directors General of Income Tax (Investigation) Director General of Income Tax (I CI) Pro forma for statistical report in monthly D.O. by Directors General of Income Tax to Members (Inv), CBDT, in respect of intelligence received from FIU-IND DGIT (Inv) Charge: FIL-IND related action DIT (Inv) B/F on 1st day of current FY (......... ) Accepted up to the end of this month Disposal during the month Disposal up to the end of the month Balance C/F to next month Age-wise break-up of balance at Col. 7 Less than 1 year old More than 1 year old (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) Category A STR DIT(Inv),.. DIT(Inv),.. Total Other - category STR DIT(Inv),.. DIT(Inv),.. Total P1 category STR DIT(Inv),.. DIT(Inv),.. Total P2 category STR DIT(Inv),.. DIT(Inv),.. Total P3 category STR DIT(Inv),., DlT(Inv),.. Total Foreign intelligence DIT(Inv),.. DIT(Inv),.. Total FEEDBACK ON DISSEMINATED INFORMATION (1) Feedback Details (Y-Yes, N-No, NA-Not Ascertainable) 1.1 FIU-IND Case Reference Number 1.2 Name of main person/ entity 1.3 PAN of main person(s) / entity (ies) 1.4 Category (A/ Others/ P1/P2/P3) 1.5 Is this first feedback on this case? (Y/N) 1.6 Was the information found useful? (Y/N/NA) (2) Usefulness of Information (Y-Yes, N-No, NA-Not Ascertainable) 2.1 Identification of a new case (Y/N/NA) 2.2 Investigation of an existing case (Y/N/NA) 2.3 Identification of unexplained assets (Y/N/NA) 2.4 Initiation of prosecution (Y/N/NA) 2.5 Assistance in ongoing prosecution (Y/N/NA) (3) Action Taken Status (N-Not initiated, U-Under progress, C-Completed) 3.1 Enquiry / Investigation (N/U/C) 3.2 Search (N/U/C) 3.3 FIR (N/U/C) 3.4 Arrest (N/U/C) 3.5 Prosecution (N/U/C) (4) Outcome Status (Amount in Rupees) 4.1 Unaccounted assets/ income identified 4.2 Assets seized/attached 4.3 Assets confiscated 4.4 Taxes/Demands/ Dues imposed 4.5 Penalties /Fines imposed (5) Comments/Suggestions (6) Please indicate whether the entity investigated is one of the following (wherever information is available) Manufacturer Importer/exporter Service Provider Other(Specify) 7. Details of Officer Filling the Form 7.1 Name of Officer 7.2 Designation 7.3 Place 7.4 Name of Department / Agency 7.5 Contact Telephone 7.6 Date FOR FIU-IND USE ONLY - - 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - FEA The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units Request for FIU Information i. REQUESTOR REPRESENTATIONS By using this form, the requesting agency agrees that upon receipt of information provided by the disclosing FIU: The requesting agency will maintain the confidentiality of any and all information provided to it by the disclosing FIU; The requesting agency will not disclose the information outside of its agency without the prior written permission of the disclosing FIU; and The requesting agency will limit the use of the information for the purpose(s) stated on this form. Please Type or Print All Information (Be sure to save file locally) ii. REQUEST OR INFORMATION Case No. Country/Territory: India Agency Financial Intelligence Unit (on behalf of National Investigation Agency, India) Name Title Telephone Fax E-Mail Signature______________Date______________ DD/MM/YYYY Authorising Official Title Telephone Fax Signature _______________ Date __________________ DD/MM/YYYY Official Use Only iii. SUBJECT INFORMATION REQUESTED SUBJECT IDENTIFYING DATA Subject Name (Natural Person or Business): Last First Middle Alias(es): Address: Relationship of Subject to Investigation: Professional Activity : Identification No : Issuing jurisdiction : Phone No. : Other (specify) : Nationality : Sex : Date of birth : Place of birth : State/Province : Country : FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION Related/Associated Business(es): Bank Name, Bank Account No(s), Bank address: iv NATURE OF THE INVESTIGATION 1. Describe the case under investigation and state the principal violation(s): Criminal Civil 2. What information do you need from the disclosing FIU? 3. How and for what purpose(s) will the information requested be used? 4. Are there on-going formal investigations or judicial proceedings? 5. Do you anticipate asset forfeiture or securement in this case? 6. State the amount and type, or nature, of assets involved in this case. 7. What other agencies or countries are involved in this investigation?