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There is no assurance of an absolute confidentiality to those disclosing foreign assets on their own, the government said that the information provided during the one-time compliance window can be revealed in the public interest.

"In this (black money) law, there is no assurance of confidentiality, but at the same time there is a provision that Section 138 of I-T Act, which is basically a confidentiality provision, that is the information of individual taxpayer will be kept confidential. However, the Department in public interest can declare it," Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said.

"By and large the information would be kept confidential. Under the new law, it is not the case that we will put up a public notice that so and so have availed the benefit and paid tax", he added.

"The Revenue Department would come out with a second set of FAQs on the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 to clarify the provisions of the law", Das said.

"The government will start getting information from different countries under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) from 2017", he also said, that the tax department will get to know whenever domestic black money is taken abroad.

By Premji