India has entered into a pact with the British Virgin Islands for exchange of information to check tax evasion and money laundering. The agreement is aimed at checking the growth of black money.This is the third Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) — as it is known in the parlance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — signed by India. India had earlier signed the TIEA with Bermuda and Isle of Man. Under the agreement with British Virgin Islands there is a specific provision for providing banking and ownership information and the requesting state has to provide some minimum details about the information requested. However, information is to be treated as secret and can be disclosed to only specified person or authorities, which are tax authorities or the authorities concerned with the determination of a tax appeal. The agreement also allows for exchange of past information in criminal tax matters.
India inks pact with Bahamas for tax information exchange:
India has entered into a pact with Bahamas for exchange of information to check tax evasion and money laundering. This is the fourth Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) signed by India. Under the agreement with Bahamas, there is a specific provision for providing banking and ownership information and the requesting state has to provide some minimum details about the information requested.
Understanding the Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs):
The purpose of TIEA’s is to promote international co-operation in tax matters through exchange of information. It was developed by the OECD Global Forum Working Group on Effective Exchange of Information. The Working Group consisted of representatives from OECD Member countries as well as delegates from Aruba, Bermuda, Bahrain, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Isle of Man, Malta, Mauritius, the Netherlands Antilles, the Seychelles and San Marino. The Agreement grew out of the work undertaken by the OECD to address harmful tax practices. The lack of effective exchange of information is one of the key criteria in determining harmful tax practices. The mandate of the Working Group was to develop a legal instrument that could be used to establish effective exchange of information. The Agreement represents the standard of effective exchange of information for the purposes of the OECD’s initiative on harmful tax practices.
About British Virgin Islands:
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands (BVI), is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. The capital of British Virgin Islands is Road Town and is situated on Tortola, the largest island. The head of the state is Queen Elizabeth II and the Governor is William Boyd McCleary.
