3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 24, 2026 08:28 AM IST
Disclosing collective figures regarding this for the first time, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said that Rs 14,601 crore worth offshore assets investigated by The Indian Express have been “brought to tax”.
The reply to an RTI by the CBDT includes the Rs 686 crore “brought to tax” following the publication of the Pandora Papers in 2021.
What investigations had revealed
The Panama Papers, Paradise Papers and Pandora Papers investigations, published in 2016, 2017 and 2021, respectively, were done over several years by The Indian Express, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and media partners from across the world.
While the CBDT had earlier provided figures of the “undisclosed tax detected” via the offshore assets investigations, the RTI reply to The Indian Express, dated January 30, 2026, now discloses “the undisclosed investments brought to tax” as well.
The “brought to tax” figures were derived after the completion of assessment of each of the tax cases, dispatch of tax notices to the assessees, and receipt of their replies. Hence, it goes beyond a calculation of what was undeclared, and is a step towards prosecution and penalty according to Indian tax laws. These figures are, however, still not those for taxes finally collected by the CBDT after detection of offshore assets.
As per the CBDT reply, while Rs 13,800 crore was “brought to tax” in the Panama Papers; the figure was Rs 115 crore for the Paradise Papers; and Rs 686 crore for the Pandora Papers.
Earlier RTI replies by the CBDT showed that 1,255 tax cases in all had been filed following the three global offshore investigations: 426 in the case of the Panama Papers; 494 in Paradise Papers; and 335 in Pandora Papers.
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The Pandora Papers investigation involved a scrutiny of 11.9 million secret documents from 14 offshore service providers, giving details of ownership of 29,000 offshore entities used as tax havens by the rich.
The data was obtained by the ICIJ and shared with 150 media partners, including The Indian Express. Immediately thereafter, the government had announced a Multi Agency Group to oversee the Pandora Papers probe.
The Financial Intelligence Unit under the Finance Ministry is also known to have sent requests to foreign jurisdictions regarding 482 persons named in the Pandora Papers.
In its latest RTI reply, the CBDT said that the Multi Agency Group has held seven meetings over the Pandora Papers. However, it did not give details, saying the information is “confidential in nature… the disclosure of which might impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders”.
