Swiss DTAA to allow India access to banking info: Pranab

SWISS

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement signed with Switzerland will allow India access to
banking details of its citizens in that country, including for
enforcement purposes, but it will be operational with
prospective effect, Government of India said Tuesday.
"This (DTAA) will provide us an opportunity to have the
relevant bank information for taxation purposes," Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement in the Lower
House of Parliament.
However, he said the new provision will be applicable only
for prospective information and not for past information.
Mukherjee and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey
had signed the revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) here yesterday.
He said the Swiss Bank transactions were so strictly
enforced that only once in 1945 the assets of the Nazi leaders
who were subjected to Nuremberg trials were revealed by them.
"Before and after that they have not revealed any such
information. This (DTAA) will provide us an opportunity to
have the relevant bank information for taxation purposes,"
Mukherjee said.
He said India has taxation agreements with many other
countries using which the government can raise a demand for
taxes.
"But we cannot disclose this information to any authority
including Parliament," he said.
With the signing of the amended protocol with Switzerland,
the government would be able to share the information, which
it would get, with Parliament, he said.
Mukherjee said the Swiss authorities have been refusing to
share any banking information with departments other than
Income Tax.
"...the provision was that it will be given only to the
Income Tax Department and the Income Tax Department can use it
only for its own purposes of making assessment of income tax
and wealth tax, but they cannot transfer it to other
authorities.
"For instance, even they cannot give it to the Enforcement
Directorate, if there is a case of money laundering. That
provision will also be made available," Mukherjee said. PTI
SKU
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