Category: India

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to visit Mauritius, Maldives over the weekend

NEW DELHI: Ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s three-day visit to Mauritius from tomorrow, India today said amendments to the bilateral tax treaty with the island nation would be made only after taking into account the “legitimate interests” of both sides. Swaraj will also be visiting Male and hold… – Continue reading

Where did all the black money come from and how did it get out of India?

Hawala networks are being replaced by sophisticated transfer pricing approaches. The image is easy to envision. Corrupt politicians, crooked corporate honchos and evil criminals stashing away their ill-gotten gains in shady Swiss banks. Thousands of crores of rupees that should be earning India tax revenue wilfully being hidden from authorities… – Continue reading

Government says its hands tied, defers tax treaty signing –

On a day when it furnished before the Supreme Court the full list of 627 Indians having accounts in foreign banks, the NDA government put off the signing of a crucial multilateral agreement aimed at facilitating access to financial information on taxpayers abroad. This has been prompted by the uncertainties… – Continue reading

Black money case fallout: India pulls out of multilateral information sharing agreement

New Delhi: A day after the Centre submitted its list of 627 Indians who have accounts in HSBC bank, Geneva for tax probe for suspected black money to Supreme Court, India has pulled out of multilateral information sharing agreement. The Mutilateral Competent Authority Agreement was signed by 51 countries in… – Continue reading

Only case-specific information can be disclosed: Switzerland

Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland on Thursday said information exchanged under the Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed “in principle” to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a “specific and relevant” case. The comments come at a time… – Continue reading

Black Money List: The Timblo Trail, from Hong Kong to Goa

Mumbai, The Timblo family, named by the government in Supreme Court in connection with untaxed or black money in foreign accounts, parked money illegally in two foreign currency accounts in Hong Kong before pumping it back into India, NDTV has learnt. The family, which runs a Goa-based mining firm, had… – Continue reading

Black money: Info can’t be disclosed outside specific proceedings, says Switzerland

New Delhi/Berne: Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland today said information exchanged under Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed “in principle” to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a ‘specific and relevant’ case. The comments come at a time… – Continue reading

India fails to attend meet on combating tax evasion

New Delhi/Berlin, Oct 29: India today failed to attend an OECD meeting in Berlin where a multilateral agreement requiring a commitment to follow international standards of confidentiality for information received relating to black money was signed. Official sources said that India was not able to attend the Berlin meeting where… – Continue reading

Switzerland remains largest offshore financial centre

Geneva: A huge global pressure to break secrecy veils of Swiss banks notwithstanding, Switzerland remains the world’s largest offshore financial centre with client assets totalling over USD two trillion, a new study said. Besides the country is expected to remain “the biggest offshore centre for private banking in 2018,” with… – Continue reading

Indian businesses in US risk higher penal taxes on fund transfer

NEW DELHI: Indian entities having businesses in the US risk higher penal taxes in the US on any fund transfer to the country if New Delhi fails to endorse a pact for information exchange by December 31 on grounds of confidentiality. New Delhi will find it difficult to sign the… – Continue reading

BJP needs to take a re-look at tax treaties if it’s serious about black money

On Wednesday, when the Supreme Court accepted and handed over the sealed envelope from the government carrying the Swiss bank account details of Indians to the special investigation team, what seems to have won is the concern over the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTAT) and many such agreements that the… – Continue reading

Centre gives black money full list to SC, names to remain secret

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, October 29, 2014 First Published: 09:16 IST(29/10/2014) | Last Updated: 10:26 IST(30/10/2014) The government on Wednesday submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the Supreme Court, which directed its special investigating team (SIT) to examine them and take… – Continue reading

Black money: SC order may impact other tax treaties

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court’s directive on sharing the names of overseas account holders has raised worries about India’s commitment to the confidentiality clause in various tax treaties and may impact remittances from the US. Any move to make the names public without prosecution may hamper signing of the Foreign… – Continue reading

Black money: Besides HSBC list, there’s another with 612 names

NEW DELHI: Even as the present debate over black money is focused mostly around the names of 628 Indians with account in HSBC, Geneva, the authorities have a list of another 612 Indians with accounts in tax havens around the world. The names of these 612 Indians emerged in 2013… – Continue reading

Black money: SIT seeks probe unit, changes in DTAA

In its first report submitted to the Supreme Court, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has sought an investigation unit, with the Enforcement Directorate as the nodal co-ordinating agency. The court-appointed SIT, headed by retired Supreme Court judges M B Shah and Arijit Pasayat, has made several recommendations… – Continue reading

Govt to investigate 600 Indians with overseas bank accounts for tax evasion

NEW DELHI –  The Indian government has handed over to the Supreme Court a list of more than 600 Indians with unauthorized foreign bank accounts as it attempts to crack down on rampant tax evasion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he wants to prosecute people who park their money abroad… – Continue reading

Bellary miners in ‘blacklist?’

Bellary: While Union finance minister, Arun Jaitley has warned the  Congress it could be embarrassed once the names of people holding illegal foreign accounts are made public,  local mining industry sources say the BJP too could be in for some embarassment  as its once powerful leader and jailed mining czar,… – Continue reading

‘Differences with India on making Swiss bank a/c info public’

Noting that tax evasion is not a criminal offence in Switzerland, a senior Swiss official has acknowledged differences with India on what can be made public about Indians having unaccounted money parked in Swiss banks. However, the Swiss Foreign Ministry official hoped that with the advent of the new government… – Continue reading

Why it’s difficult to bring black money back

The government may have revealed the names of three black money account holders, but will it be able to get the money back or catch big fishes who have stashed the illegal money in tax havens across the globe. As of now it seems impossible. With at least three different… – Continue reading

7 ways to stay away from black money, 3rd one is fool-proof

On Monday when the Centre revealed the names of Indians with bank accounts in Switzerland, a customary call to a chartered accountant made sense. Straight up, the question was how to make sure that a person be financially healthy and disciplined, without having back-of-the-mind worries of the tax man knocking… – Continue reading

Tax treaties behind case-by-case disclosure of foreign accounts

Behind the step-by-step approach in the government’s disclosure of names of foreign bank account holders is the confidentiality clause under the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) that prevents making public the identity of the account holders. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier said the names of persons would be disclosed… – Continue reading

Fresh affidavit on black money in SC today: What the debate is all about

An informed, mature and realistic debate on black money is too much to ask for in a country where the issue attracts intense, almost emotional public reaction. It does not help when political games and systemic problems in the economy that aid tax evasion and stashing of illicit money in… – Continue reading

Blackmoney: Govrnment to move Swiss with new hope in Hasan Ali case

NEW DELHI: The renewed vigour to unearth suspected blackmoney of Indians in Swiss bank accounts after a recent meeting of top officials on both sides is expected to initiate final prosecution in one of the most prominent tax crime cases related to Pune-based stud farm-owner Hasan Ali Khan. Sources privy… – Continue reading

Assocham against government disclosing names of black money holders

NEW DELHI: Amid a growing clamour for naming of alleged black money holders, industry body Assocham today said the government should not prematurely disclose the names of such persons as it could hamper battle against this menace. “The double taxation avoidance treaties are important for the Indian residents and corporates… – Continue reading

FACT CHECKER: Loebsack attacks Miller-Meeks on outsourcing jobs

Introduction The economy has come to the forefront of the Second U.S. House District race between incumbent Democrat Dave Loebsack and Republican challenger Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Loebsack’s campaign accuses Miller-Meeks of being in favor of “special tax breaks to outsourcing corporations” and claims she partnered with a company that sent… – Continue reading

Black money: Jethmalani writes strong letter to Jaitley

India Blooms News Service New Delhi, Oct 24 (IBNS): Supreme Court advocate Ram Jethmalani, who was also an ex-BJP member, has written a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accusing him of not taking proper steps to bring back black money. n his letter, Jethmalani has slammed Jaitley’s stand that… – Continue reading

Swiss banks trying to distance themselves from dodgy Indian clients

MUMBAI: Leading Swiss banks are trying to distance themselves from some of the dodgy Indian clients who have twisted rules and could be a cause of embarrassment in future. At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts,… – Continue reading

Penal consequences force taxpayers to report deals that are not taxable: Vijay Iyer

Business Standard  October 23, 2014 Last Updated at 23:20 IST The Bombay High Court recently in the case of Vodafone India Services Private Limited (Vodafone) held that the foreign direct investment (FDI) received by the Indian company in the form of share capital cannot be taxed in India under the… – Continue reading

The Singapore-India Connection: A Robust Past and a Compelling Future

In determining the optimum gateway for investing into India, reliance on industry data may be the most prudent opening gambit. Data released by India’s Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion peg Mauritius and Singapore as the top two destinations through which foreign direct investment and private equity capital is routed… – Continue reading

Black Money Names Will Embarrass Congress: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to NDTV

NEW DELHI:  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has never said that it will not reveal the names of Indians who have undeclared income parked in foreign bank accounts. “The Congress will be embarrassed by the names when we reveal them in court,” said Mr Jaitley in an exclusive… – Continue reading

India: Vodafone Victorious In Multi Million Transfer Pricing Battle, Yet Again!

Bombay High Court holds that shares issued at a premium by a resident entity to a non-resident entity is a capital account transaction and does not give rise to any income; Income arising from an International Transaction between AEs must satisfy the test of ‘income; as provided under the ITA… – Continue reading

Tax must be paid on dividend unless rules change

Dividend represents a share of the company’s post-tax profit that is divided among its shareholders. In other words, once corporate tax has been paid on profit, the remaining earnings are distributed amongst shareholders as dividend. So far, so good. Then, this dividend is characterised as income in the hands of… – Continue reading

FATCA Tracker – October 01, 2014

Nearly 105,000 financial institutions are listed on the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) database of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) organisations complying with the tax reporting rules for US citizens. The latest list was published on October 1, 2014 by the IRS and shows 104,344 financial organisations have signed… – Continue reading

Black money row: Left says BJP and Centre stand exposed

New Delhi: Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Saturday criticized the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre for not disclosing the names of persons having money stashed away in safe havens abroad, and alleged that it exposed the utter hypocrisy and double standards of… – Continue reading

Major Government Initiative to Combat Unaccounted Money and Tax Evasion

New Delhi: A delegation led by Shri Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary and consisting of Shri K.V. Chowdary, Chairman, CBDT and ShriAkhileshRanjan, Joint Secretary (FT&TR) visited Switzerland on 15.10.2014 and held discussions with Swiss Finance and Tax Authorities on issues relating to Exchange of Information in tax matters. The Swiss delegation… – Continue reading

Bombay High Court ruling on taxability of share premium in the Vodafone India case

The much-awaited decision of the Bombay High Court was pronounced on October 10. Transfer pricing adjustment carried out in Shell/Vodafone case has been at the centrestage of every public discussion on Indian transfer pricing legislation. The incredulous stand taken by the tax authorities has evoked a strong response from investors… – Continue reading

Bringing back black money: Swiss promise India details in time-bound manner

erne/New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in India’s fight against black money allegedly stashed abroad, Switzerland today said it will examine Indian requests for banking information on a priority basis and provide requested details in a time-bound manner. The Swiss authorities would also “assist in obtaining confirmation on genuineness of… – Continue reading

Harper Government Strengthens Tax Collaboration with India

Minister Findlay meets with Indian counterpart during trade mission to India DELHI, INDIA–(Marketwired – Oct. 15, 2014) – Canada Revenue Agency The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of National Revenue, met today with Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Minister of State… – Continue reading

Wealth Inequality Accelerates Worldwide on Inheritance, Tax Avoidance

Wealth inequality is growing worldwide, according to a new report by Credit Suisse. A greater share of wealth is being held by a smaller number of ultra-rich families worldwide as larger inheritances, family trusts, and similar arrangements to avoid taxes help the ultra-wealthy gain a greater portion of total capital… – Continue reading