The last time the taxman went after those with Swiss bank accounts, many said they had no clue how their names cropped up; quite a few escaped saying that they were non-residents, some simply ignored the missives, and only a few broke down and confessed.

And there were the hard nuts who, without losing their equanimity, thought through the situation, invited their accountants and lawyers over for dinner, and arrived at that blissful conclusion that if they deny, and continue to deny, there was very little the income-tax department could eventually do. Will it be different this time?

The word is out that tax officials have once again stumbled upon a list of names from another Swiss bank. This time around, the list is longer: about 2,000 names compared to the 600-odd having accounts with HSBC Geneva.

The HSBC list was stolen data - leaked by a former employee of the British bank to French authorities who handed over the compact disc to Indian authorities.

The bank repeatedly said it knew nothing about the matter; only on a single occasion it indirectly admitted to the existence of such a list after a reporter of this newspaper was tipped off that a family member belonging to one of the bank's influential clients was named.

There were several media reports on how the income-tax department would embark on the task of recovering tax on such undisclosed income: one report said the government would hire informers, another talked about the possibility of the tax department going after Indian branches of foreign banks, while some said the department could initiate prosecution proceedings.

The reportage kept the story alive - it's one of those stories people love to believe - but tax officials could perhaps sense they had made little headway. Their exercise kicked off with letters to those in the HSBC list, asking them to come over to the department with copies of their passports.

But they knew that since the summons were based on stolen data, the tax claims could fail to impress Swiss authorities as well as Indian courts. Maybe it could be a little different this time if the tax department chooses to, and finally has, its way.

The source of the recent data is unclear - it could have originated from another leak (and, therefore, stolen) or it could have been fished out by informers (if there are any). But the department can handle it another way to make the best use of the possible information.

The treaty between India and Switzerland, which allows specific tax information exchange, has come into effect from January 1, 2012. However, it doesn't really allow Indian officials to freely ask for any information about anyone. (Economic Times)