Black money: Neo Corp not to appeal against info exchange

Indore-based textiles firm Neo Corp is the latest in a series of Indian names that have been published in the official gazette of the Swiss govt.

Named by Switzerland among those facing tax probe in India, Indore-based Neo Corp International on Wednesday said it will not appeal against sharing of information by Swiss authorities with their Indian counterparts.

In its latest disclosure on suspected black money cases being pursued by the Indian tax authorities, Switzerland had on Tuesday said it has received request for information about this textile company and had given it 30 days' time to file an appeal against sharing of the information.

Neo Corp, which began as a small woven sack maker in 1985 and now claims to be a multinational technical textiles group, had incidentally faced income tax searches on its various premises earlier in February for alleged tax evasion.

In reply to clarifications sought by the Bombay Stock Exchange, where Neo shares today tanked 5 per cent, the company said it had opened an account with Investec Bank, (Switzerland), AG on May 8, 2011 "with an objective to raise funds for the company".

"The said account had never been funded. Hence, (it) was  closed on February 18, 2012 by the bank," it added.

Giving further details about tax department searches in February this year, Neo said the tax department got the details of this account from the company's official records.

"Upon enquiry from the IT department, the company submitted details of the account along with account statements and closure of the account.

"As standard procedure, the department gets such information verified by the counterpart in other countries. Therefore as a part of the bilateral treaty for administrative assistance and exchange of information between Switzerland and India, the IT department has requested to Swiss Authorities to confirm the details of the said account."

Stating that the company was given 30 days to appeal against 'administrative assistance' by the Federal Tax Administration, Neo said, "The company has decided not to go for an appeal so that IT Department gets the requisite confirmation as soon as possible."

As part of its bilateral treaty for administrative assistance and exchange of information with Switzerland, India has sought details about numerous individuals and companies from the Alpine nation as part of its crackdown against suspected black money stashed in Swiss banks.

Neo Corp is the latest in a series of Indian names that have been published in the official gazette of the Swiss government about whom the tax authorities in India have sought information from their counterparts of Switzerland.

About a dozen such names have been disclosed so far, while many other requests are pending with the Swiss authorities who conduct their own due diligence before starting the process of sharing the information.

Neo Corp shares have been falling sharply for the past few days. Claiming to be present in over 28 countries, it now commands a market value of Rs 127 crore (Rs 1.27 billion). It posted a revenue of Rs 744 crore (Rs 7.44 billion) and net profit of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) in the last fiscal.