India has entered into
Double Taxation Avoidance agreements (DTAAs) with 84 countries. In addition,
DTAAs have been signed with 3 countries, viz. Colombia, Uruguay & Ethiopia
and will enter into force after completion of necessary formalities in these
countries. Proposal to sign DTAAs with 12 more countries/jurisdictions is under
process. These countries/jurisdictions are Albania, Bhutan, Chile, Croatia,
Fiji, Hong Kong, Iran, Latvia, Senegal,
Venezuela, Cuba and Macedonia.
The Government has
also identified priority countries/jurisdictions for negotiation of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs). At present, India
has TIEAs with 9 jurisdictions viz. Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Liberia and Macau which
are in force. In addition, three more TIEAs have been signed with Argentina,
Bahrain and Monaco which will enter into force after completion of necessary
formalities in these countries/jurisdictions. The proposal to sign TIEAs with
another 34 countries/jurisdictions is under process. These
countries/jurisdictions are Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, Cook Islands,
Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica,
Montserrat, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino,Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos, Vanuatu, Argentina, Bahrain, Gibraltar,
Liechtenstein, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Panama, Saint Kitts & Nevis and
Seychelles.
All these DTAAs and TIEAs contain an Article
on Exchange of Information under which India tax authorities can seek
information about a taxpayer.
Information is regularly exchanged with the
treaty/agreement partners and is forwarded to the field authorities for taking
appropriate action. The information exchanged is governed by the
confidentiality clause of the respective DTAA/TIEA.
This was stated by the Minister of State for
Finance, Shri S.S. Palanimanickam in written reply to a question in the Rajya
Sabha today.
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