India Rapidly Expanding Tax Agreement Network

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

17 October 2011

India is playing a major role in the global crusade against tax crimes and has completed negotiations for 16 new tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs), according to the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) M C Joshi.

The pacts with the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands have entered into force, Joshi told an international tax conference organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

TIEAs have also been signed with the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Monaco, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Argentina, Costa Rica, Guernsey, Macau, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Congo and Gibraltar.

India has recently joined the Financial Action Task Force, and the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development, said Joshi, and software for the exchange of information is being developed in the CBDT’s Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division.

”This coupled with the fact that negotiations have been completed with 56 jurisdictions in the past two years for Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements and TIEAs as per international standards, including exchange of banking information, will enable us to combat evasion and avoidance of taxes,” he said.

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