india

Updated: Nov 13, 2019 19:46 IST

India, which has started getting crucial information about black money stashed in Swiss bank by unscrupulous elements, may further intensify its effort in such cases of tax evasion and it is engaged with Switzerland to enhance the scope of existing tax treaties.

India’s revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and Switzerland’s state secretary for international finance, Daniela Stoffel on Wednesday stressed on the need to further enhance cooperation under the India-Switzerland tax treaties to fight the menace of black money, a finance ministry statement said. Pandey and Stoffel met in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“Fighting the menace of black money stashed in offshore accounts is a key priority area for the government. Following the agreement between the Indian Prime Minister and the Swiss President for enhanced cooperation in the fight against tax evasion the two sides have worked closely for expeditious information exchange in tax matters,” it said.

Welcoming the first transmission of financial account information on automatic basis between the two countries in September 2019, the secretaries reiterated their countries’ commitment to global tax transparency for tackling offshore tax evasion, it said.

“This automatic exchange of financial account information will usher a new era of financial transparency as Indian tax administration will now know the details of all bank accounts held by Indians in Switzerland,” it added.

The secretaries encouraged the competent authorities of both the countries to further collaborate and share experiences with the aim of continuously enhancing the quality of the exchanged data.

Switzerland and India had signed a joint declaration on the introduction of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) on tax matters in November, 2016. According to the joint declaration India would start receiving information on accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland from September 2019 for 2018 and subsequent years on an automatic basis.

The secretaries expressed satisfaction over the progress made over the past few years in the area of administrative assistance in tax matters, particularly the efforts made by Switzerland in providing assistance in HSBC cases, the statement said.

The two top bureaucrats also exchanged views on addressing the challenges arising out of digitalisation of the economy and agreed that coordinated international actions, as in the case of tax base erosion and profit shifting project, are central to achieving a consensus-based long-term solution that leads to desired tax certainty and sustainable development.

The secretaries reaffirmed the need for continuous dialogue at the level of “competent authorities” of the two countries to further enhance the cooperation under the India-Switzerland tax treaties and agreed to carry forward the dialogue in the spirit of mutual friendship and cooperation.