MUMBAI: Indian tax authorities will ignore conventions to pierce trust structures used by most people to stash black money abroad. Persons who are named as beneficiaries in overseas discretionary trusts are likely to face enquiry even if they do not receive any money from such trusts. The taxman will look… – Continue reading
Committing to a step-up in investments in India, the UAE said it is keen to tap opportunities in smart cities and the infrastructure sector. NEW DELHI: Just a little over a fortnight since Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM to visit the UAE in 34 years, the two countries… – Continue reading
In a move that could add real bite to India’s war on black money, the Swiss Federal Council on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow the government to share “stolen data” with other countries. The council, Switzerland’s highest executive authority, said in a statement: “The Federal Council initiated the… – Continue reading
The recent shocks in the global economy triggered by the Chinese devaluation of yuan and its economic slowdown are likely to dominate discussions in the two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors starting here tomorrow over which India has expressed serious concern. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrived… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s parliament will soon take up the issue of inking a crucial Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) agreement with India, a move that could help combat the menace of black money and erect a platform to enable the exchange of information between the two countries. “The domestic procedures regarding AEOI… – Continue reading
Three-quarters of global business leaders would accept higher taxes in exchange for greater clarity on acceptable tax planning, the Grant Thornton International Business Report has found. The survey of 2,580 businesses in 35 countries noted a significant increase from the last time the question was asked – last year –… – Continue reading
Domestic funds will now have to closely examine FATCA rules. Much ink has been spilt of late over a United States (‘US’) federal law called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (‘FATCA’) and hence we thought it fit to spend some time trying to analyse for the readers the aspects… – Continue reading
By accepting the recommendations of the AP Shah panel on the issue of retrospective tax demand on FIIs, the Narendra Modi government has added one more item to the long list of its U-turns. And at the face of it, this one definitely is a wise one, though the question… – Continue reading
Statutes facilitates automatic exchange of financial account data Pensions regulator PFRDA has asked all intermediaries registered with or appointed by the body to take necessary steps to ensure compliance with respect to the implementation of multilateral competent authority agreement (MCAA) and foreign account tax compliance act (FATCA). Financial regulators in… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Expressing concerns over the outflow of funds from developing countries, including India, through money laundering and other ways, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha today said as much as $300-600 billion moves out through such channels. “Illicit financial flows means the money that actually is black money,… – Continue reading
Rejecting “treaty shopping” claims, India’s High Court of Punjab and Haryana has ruled that India should not tax capital gains from the sale by Mauritian entities of shares held in an Indian company if they are proven resident in Mauritius. The ruling was given in Serco BPO Private Limited v…. – Continue reading
The Swiss authorities, already annoyed by India’s new black money law that puts pressure on its banking system, has now rejected an Indian government request for legal assistance to proceed against a Swiss firm for alleged bribery. A report by the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper said Switzerland’s office of the… – Continue reading
On 25 August 2015, the Indian Ministry of Finance released an order extending the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting filing deadline for Indian Financial Institutions to 10 September 2015 (from 31 August 2015). The FATCA Agreement between India and the United States was signed on 9 July 2015…. – Continue reading
Mumbai, Aug. 29 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked all banks and financial institutions to be prepared to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). In a notification issued on Friday, the RBI said that India has signed an agreement with United States for improving international… – Continue reading
India and Germany have agreed to resume negotiations on partial revision of double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA), the government said on Friday. The two countries have agreed to explore possibilities of enhancing tax related information while continuing to share information on the basis of existing agreements, the ministry of finance… – Continue reading
It’s a decision that could spell relief for many Mauritius based investors. This week the Punjab & Haryana High Court has re-iterated that a Mauritian tax residency certificate is sufficient to avail treaty benefits. Senior advocate Porus Kaka tells CNBC TV18’s Menaka Doshi that this re-iteration is important given the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: In a breather to famed jewellery designer Nirav Modi promoted Firestone International, the Bombay High Court ruled that the transfer pricing addition should be considered only on international transactions with Associated Enterprise (AE) and not on entire turnover of the company. According to the facts of the case, Firestone… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has asked all market intermediaries to comply with the new income tax rules– Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act(FATCA)–with India becoming a signatory to the multilateral Competent Authority Agreement(MCAA). The global agreement between countries has put an obligation on them to exchange wide… – Continue reading
Three-member AP Shah Committee has recommended extending minimum alternate tax (MAT) relief to foreign companies which do not have permanent establishment or public business in India. In an earlier version, the committee had sought to restrict MAT to foreign institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors. The committee had also not… – Continue reading
The government expects the number of disclosures about unaccounted overseas wealth under the black money window to go up in the last few weeks of the compliance period, which ends on September 30. “We expect the number of applications under the (black money) compliance window to go up during the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India continued to develop its relationship in the Indian Ocean Region, offering an additional coast guard patrol boat to visiting Seychelles President James Alix Michel, who is in India within five months of Prime minister Narendra Modi’s state visit.The visit also provided an opportunity to sign an agreement… – Continue reading
Pakistan has decided to revise obsolete convention of double taxation and provision of fiscal evasion convention with the United State of America (USA) aimed at bringing the treaty at par with neighbouring countries, well informed sources told Business Recorder. Pakistan and US signed a convention on the avoidance of double… – Continue reading
Three-member AP Shah Committee has recommended extending minimum alternate tax (MAT) relief to foreign companies which do not have permanent establishment or public business in India. In an earlier version, the committee had sought to restrict MAT to foreign institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors. The committee had also not… – Continue reading
Tightening noose on tax evaders, the government and the Income Tax department will keep a closer eye on those with foreign assets and income, which even includes the negligible interest earned on bank deposits, small earnings while on a short trip abroad or even an online project that paid you… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance is making all possible attempts to resolve tax related disputes through proper dispute mechanism framework agreement with global as well as domestic companies with a spirit of equity and fairness so that the growth being aimed at is scaled and additional employment opportunities created as intended… – Continue reading
A recent Central Board of Direct Taxes (‘CBDT’) press release of August 6, 2015 announced signing of 2 unilateral APAs, including one with a rollback provision, and this has raised hopes of many MNCs, that hope to witness expeditious and reasonable closures. n July 2012, with a view to providing… – Continue reading
This month’s feature examines proposals for new tax information reporting requirements for large multinational businesses as part of wider and ongoing changes to the international tax system – proposals which have been described by international tax experts as the most significant development in the field of transfer pricing since TP… – Continue reading
After the leak of two major secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm that revealed names of roughly 2,000 Indian account holders, the global bank itself has done it now. For the first time ever, HSBC Singapore shared a new list of 1,200 individuals all across the globe of… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted in 2010 by the Government of the United States of America (USA) (Govt. of US) with a view to combat tax evasion by U.S. citizens and residents through the use of offshore accounts. FATCA requires financial institutions globally to share information about… – Continue reading
The Revenue Department may soon come out with a circular on providing relief to FIIs from the minimum alternate tax (MAT) with retrospective effect. “Government is likely to soon issue circular giving relief to FIIs on MAT prior to April 1,” a senior Finance Ministry official said. The government-appointed AP… – Continue reading
Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood’s recent comments over the call drops seems to have snubbed the government officials. Sood, off lately had said that “The (telecom) minister’s and secretary’s comments don’t count as the view of the entire government”. The matter has now been raised with the company (Vodafone) says… – Continue reading
India will soon settle international tax disputes with close to 120 American companies as well as entities from Japan and other such countries, according to the nation’s Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Earlier this month, India announced a Framework Agreement under the mutual agreement procedure provision of the India-US tax treaty… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: As it steps up its crackdown on tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock markets, regulator Sebi has busted an ‘innovative’ scheme wherein HNIs were incurring ‘bogus losses’ to offset tax liabilities. The probe, which has resulted in an interim ban on 59 entities, including HNIs and… – Continue reading
India opposed the proposal saying it impinges on the sovereign rights of developing countries in taxation New Delhi: An international proposal to make arbitration mandatory and binding under mutual agreement procedures (MAP) in tax treaties has been dropped after India strongly opposed it. Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation… – Continue reading
Hopeful of settling disputes with 120 US companies in next 3 months NEW DELHI, AUG 23: India will, in the next three months, settle tax disputes involving 120 US companies, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said. This will be done under the new framework agreement on Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)… – Continue reading
To check black money generation, the government today approved signing and ratification of the agreement between India and Seychelles for exchange of information with respect to taxes, reports the Economic Times. The agreement will stimulate the information exchange between India and Seychelles for tax purposes, which will help curb tax… – Continue reading
Management and procurement services not taxable as “fees for technical services” under the India-UK income tax treaty: India’s Authority for Advance Rulings concluded that services rendered by a group director to its group company in India were “managerial services” that, as rendered by the UK procurement team, did not make… – Continue reading
Banks overseas, spooked by India’s stringent new black money law, are asking tough questions of people and entities from the country looking to open accounts with them, reports the Economic Times. That’s because it’s not just those who possess unaccounted wealth who will get punished, those found guilty of helping… – Continue reading
Many have, mistakenly, confused the prime minister (PM)’s recent remark that Rs 6,500 crore had been disclosed by holders of hitherto unaccounted money with disclosures under the compliance window in the recent law on the subject. However, this money has nothing to do with the latter’s three-month window. These came… – Continue reading
Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state. A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already… – Continue reading
With the objective of long-term sustenance of wealth created both inside as well as outside India and continuous revenue generation, high net-worth individuals (HNIs) in India have decrypted and adopted innovative methods for asset protection and estate planning. The latest addition to the existing gamut of methods are offshore investments… – Continue reading
A Protocol to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Denmark that has entered into force on February 1, 2015, has been notified by Notification No. 45/2015/F No. 503/02/1998-FDI-I, to expand the scope of Exchange of Information (EOI) clause under Article 26 by substituting the same with a new Article… – Continue reading
In DIT vs. M/s. Lufthansa Cargo India: TS- 299-HC-2015, the Delhi High Court held that payment made by assessee (an Indian company) to German company for carrying out overhaul repairs to aircrafts was fees for technical services (“FTS”) under section 9(1)(vii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“the IT Act”)… – Continue reading
Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Taiwan and China will sign two agreements on taxation and aviation safety in their next high-level meeting to be held in Fuzhou, China later this month, a senior official of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced Tuesday. The meeting between the chiefs of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange… – Continue reading
There have not been too many applicants in the first month seeking to avail of the three-month long compliance window being offered by the government to come clean on unaccounted money in foreign shores, Justice (retd) MB Shah, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money told… – Continue reading
BENGALURU, AUGUST 17: To conduct research on present tax regulations, address uncertainties arising out of interpretation and ensure higher FDI, the International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation (ITRAF) was launched here on Monday. Headed by Parthasarathi Shome, an economist and former head of the panel on General Anti Avoidance Rules… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — A current visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a proof of growing cooperation between India and the Gulf state, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said on Sunday. In a statement carried… – Continue reading
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is putting in place a series of measures to prevent use of its exchange platform by various unscrupulous entities to evade taxes and launder money. These measures include putting additional circuit filters on stocks that are susceptible for price manipulation and reducing the number of… – Continue reading
Simplification of tax administration has always been on the government’s agenda. E-filing is one major steps in that direction as it increases the tax base. E-filing is almost paperless, where taxpayers need not submit any supporting documents. E-filing is mandatory for those qualifying as resident and ordinary resident and having… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Large foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have voiced concerns before Indian capital market regulator Sebi about the fate of the Mauritius treaty which the government is renegotiating with the tax haven. Officials of more than 20 offshore asset managers, belonging to top banking groups and fund houses, met Sebi chairman… – Continue reading
