{"id":79823,"date":"2024-06-24T07:29:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/24\/india-with-171-agreements-benefitted-through-exchange-of-information-between-countries-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2024-06-24T07:29:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:29:04","slug":"india-with-171-agreements-benefitted-through-exchange-of-information-between-countries-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/24\/india-with-171-agreements-benefitted-through-exchange-of-information-between-countries-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"India with 171 agreements benefitted through exchange of information between countries – Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"India<\/div>\n
MUMBAI: In 2023, the exchange of information mechanism spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which helps tax authorities detect cross-border tax evasion, enabled the Asian members of the Global Forum (including India), to identify at least Euro 1.8 billion of tax revenue.
During the period 2009-2023, India and 12 other Asian member countries of the Global Forum, identified euro 21.8 billion in additional revenue (tax, interest and penalties) through the use of \u2018exchange of information on request (EOIR)\u2019 and \u2018automatic exchange of information (AEOI)\u2019 including voluntary disclosure programs and offshore tax investigations.
The Global Forum\u2019s report on \u2018Tax Transparency in Asia (2024) released by the OECD today, points out that most Asian members of the forum (the international body engaged in implementation of information exchange) have a network covering more than 140 countries. India has the widest network with an exchange of information relationship with 171 countries and is a significant gainer of this mechanism. China has a network of 166 countries and Singapore of 155 countries. As country-wise revenue data is confidential, the same was not shared.
Between 2009 and 2017, the exchange of information was done primarily \u2018on request\u2019 and therefore information was exchanged only if the requesting authority had a suspicion of tax evasion or avoidance. The implementation of the automatic exchange of information become a real game-changer for countries, including India \u2013 which for instance under the automatic route gets periodical data of bank account details from Switzerland.
The report points out that Asian members who participate in automatic exchange of information, also receive consequent information on financial assets held abroad by their tax residents. Such information is a powerful tool for tax authorities to detect undeclared financial assets or taxable income of their tax residents and enforce their domestic tax laws. In 2023, they reported having received information on more than 51 million financial accounts covering assets of a total value of Euro 3.7 trillion.<\/p>\n

Advantages of the MAAC<\/keyword>: <\/b><\/p>\n

Of the 171 agreements entered into by India, 42 were created through Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) \u2013 it is a multilateral instrument used by countries to exchange information for tax purposes. 98 are complemented by the MAAC and 31 are not complemented by the MAAC.
Zayda Manatta, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat, told TOI, \u201cWith the MAAC, a jurisdiction can significantly expand its network for exchange of information without the need to enter into bilateral negotiations. Indeed more than 145 jurisdictions are parties to the MAAC, so when signing the MAAC, a jurisdiction gets access to the information that is held in all these other parties. It is very time and resource consuming to negotiate bilateral treaties or agreements, so the MAAC facilitates this process, as it is one single instrument, and its clauses are already defined. It gives access to all multilateral automatic exchange of information frameworks, including the Common Reporting Standard (for the automatic exchange of financial accounts information), and the Country-by-Country reporting, with no need for additional bilateral negotiations.\u201d
\u201cAnother benefit of the MAAC is that it is totally aligned with the exchange of information (EOI) standards, not containing any inappropriate limitation to the exchanges (e.g. limited access to banking information or domestic interest in the information to be exchanged), which is not always the case with other agreements or treaties that also provide for EOI,\u201d she added<\/p>\n

Crypto-asset reporting framework: <\/b><\/p>\n

Manatta added that, \u201cWork to roll-out the recently agreed Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) on a widespread basis is progressing rapidly.\u201d
Under India\u2019s G-20 Presidency, in September last year, the G-20 leaders called for swift implementation of CARF. The Global Forum was asked to identify an appropriate and coordinated timeline to commence exchanges by relevant jurisdictions, noting the aspiration of a significant number of these jurisdictions to start CARF exchanges by 2027 and to report to our future meetings on the progress of its work.
\u201cA dedicated CARF Group has been established, of which India is a member, to take forward the work. This group plans to deliver the Global Forum\u2019s commitment process \u2013including generally expected timelines, in the plenary meeting to be held in November,\u201d said Manatta.
She pointed out that even in advance of the launch of the Global Forum\u2019s commitment process, 58 Global Forum members have announced their intention to implement the CARF in time to commence exchanges under the CARF in 2027. \u201cOf course, the commitment that are expected to take place in November is open to all these jurisdictions and also for those who have not joined the Joint Statement, but that are interested in implementing the CARF,\u201d she added.<\/div>\n