MECHANISM for the REVIEW of IMPLEMENTATION Governmental
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Please fill the form typed (not handwritten) and send it back in WORD format. This form can be downloaded at http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/IRG.html MECHANISM FOR THE REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION Name of Country: Governmental Expert DATE: INDIA 1. Family name(s) 2. First name(s) 3. Present nationality(ies) 4. Gender KUMAR SANTOSH INDIAN MALE 5. PRESENT POSITION From To Exact title of your post : Month/Year Month/Year Additional Director of Income Tax (Investigation), Unit-6, New Delhi 11/16 Till Date Name of employer : Income Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, Government of India BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR DUTIES (max. 1500 characters) My present duties include supervision and monitoring of investigation into large scale/serious tax evasion cases which include cases involving undisclosed foreign assets /income and undisclosed domestic assets/income, inter alia, using multi-layered complex structures. The multi-layered complex structures include combination of various types of entities such as companies, trusts, foundations, etc. established in multiple foreign jurisdictions or numerous layers of domestic shell/paper companies. Investigation of such cases involves use of various investigation and intelligence techniques, following the money/ found trail, extensive use of legal instruments for exchange of information with relevant foreign jurisdictions such as Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs), Tax information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs)/Mutual legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, etc. Further, taking into consideration the emerging methods of doing business, record keeping and hiding electronic data/information, examination of digital evidence and digital forensic examination have become an extremely important aspect of such investigations. Investigation of such large scale/ serious tax evasion cases often involves the use of search and seizure provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (section132) where the intrusive action covers residential premises, business premises, etc Survey actions under section 133A of the Income Tax Act are also conducted in certain cases where intrusive action is limited to business premises only. My present duties also include supervision and monitoring of investigations emanating from the Suspicious Transaction reports (STRs) and Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs) received form Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND). Investigations conducted in the aforesaid categories of cases or other cases also require identification of cases, if any, with the requisite evidence for action under Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 as amended by Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 2016. Co-ordination with other law enforcement agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), etc. Needs facilitation in the investigations with multi- agency dimensions and ramifications. 6. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RELEVANT EXPERIENCE , INCL. PREVIOUS POSITIONS HELD (max. 1500 characters) Following my induction training as an officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 2002- 2004, I was assigned duties in the field formation of the Income Tax Department in 2004. My previous relevant experience includes investigation of large scale/serious tax evasion cases as Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation) at Mumbai in 2007-2009 (which included search and seizure cases under section 132 (If the Income Tax Act) and as Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Central) at Mumbai in 2010-2012. Some of such serious tax evasion cases investigated by me included modus operandi of tax evasion through complex multi-layered and multi-jurisdiction based offshore structures. Investigation of these cases, inter alia, required extensive use of legal instruments/treaties for exchange of information with various foreign jurisdictions. Prompt, proper and sustained investigations conducted in these cases led to unearthing of substantial evidence useful for taxation and criminal prosecutions in those cases 2012-till date I worked as Deputy Secretary (Investigation-I) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India in 2012-2016 and as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax(OSD) (investigation-I), CBDT in 2016-till date. From November 2016 or-wards, I am discharging my duties as Additional Director of Income Tax (Investigation), New Delhi as main duties. My main duties in the CBDT included policy related functions pertaining to I investigation and intelligence, handling matters pertaining to investigations into undisclosed foreign assets/income cases and other sensitive investigations, handling matters pertaining to the cases/issues under monitoring of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money constituted under the Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, handling matters pertaining to black money studies commissioned by the Government of India, etc. During my tenure at the CBDT, I was instrumental in initiating and institutionalizing references/ requests under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)/Mutual Les.al Assistance in Criminal Matters by the Income Tax Department to various foreign jurisdictions. I was made the First NODAL OFFICER of the Department for such references under MLAT. These efforts have enabled the Department in making requests to various foreign jurisdictions, especially where there is no tax treaty (TAA/TIEA) but there is MLAT with India and also where it has not been feasible to obtain information under tax treaty. Further during my tenure at the CBDT, I actively assisted my superior authorities in effectively supervising and monitoring various important and sensitive national level investigations involving undisclosed foreign assets/income cases such as HSBC foreign bank accounts cases, offshore leaks (ICIJ) cases, Panama papers leaks cases, etc. Such active assistance included formulation of appropriate Guidelines and capacity building measures from time to time, coordination with various other authorities such as Foreign Tax & Tax Research (FT& TR) Division of the CBDT for information exchange requests, Central Authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Govt. of India for requests under MLATs, etc. Handling matters pertaining to black money studies commissioned by the Government, which was conducted by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), provided me an overview of the macro aspects/ dimensions of black money in India & illicit financial outflow from India, major factors/sectors contributing to generation of black money in India, money laundering aspects in India, possible ways to bring undisclosed foreign asset/income to tax, corporate tax gap, etc. I had also attended 3 weeks training programme at the OECD International Academy of Tax Crime Investigation, Rome (Italy) in 2014 which provided me an overview of the global best practices in tax crime investigations, correlation/interplay between tax crimes, money laundering & corruption, legal instruments & methods used for investigation of tax crimes, money laundering & corruption cases. Further during my tenure at the CBDT, I also contributed actively and substantially in formulation of several important and useful Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), aimed at streamlining various functions of the Income Tax Department (the Department) and improving the effectiveness and efficiency in those areas. Some of such notable Guidelines/SOPs are SOP on handling of cases under Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act 1988, SOP on handling of cases under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and I Imposition of Tax Act 2015, Guidelines on Reward to Informants, Guidelines on Improving the Quality of Appraisal Reports/Investigation Reports, Guidelines on Prosecutions & Compounding, etc. I also contributed in formulation of the recent Exchange of information Manual released by FT&TR Division of the CBDT, more particularly in the context of the Chapter on Other Legal Instruments (MLAT, Egmont Framework). Please complete the form, save and send the WORD (.doc) file electronically to [email protected]. (For further questions, please contact our officer at +43 1 26060 83153, Corruption and Economic Crime Section, United Nations .