Govt in talks with 20 tax havens for information

India has initiated the process of negotiations of Agreement for Exchange of Information and Assistance in Collection with respect to taxes with 20 priority countries. This was stated by the Minister of State for Finance, Mr S. S. Palanimanickam, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Friday. AEI & ACT are limited purpose agreements that are mostly entered into with low-tax jurisdictions, especially havens. It is not like a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement that may require India giving away comprehensive concessions. "The exchange of information agreements with the low-tax jurisdiction countries will most likely spell out the nature of transactions, including limits, on which information could be exchanged. There is no set pattern and it could vary from country to country", a Revenue Department official said. The 20 priority jurisdictions are the Bahamas, Bahrain, Congo, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Marshal Islands, Monaco, Panama, Seychelles, St Kitts & Nevis, the Maldives, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Mann, Jersey, the Netherlands Antilles and Macau. The Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman, Mr S.S.N. Moorthy, told Businessline that the process for agreements are at a "preliminary stage" and no specific timeframe could be given for concluding them. Faced with demand from the Opposition parties to bring back unaccounted money deposited in foreign banks, the Government has already approached Switzerland for renegotiating its DTAA so that access to bank information is available. Meanwhile, negotiations have been completed with th eBahamas and Bermuda and steps are being taken for signing of information exchange agreements, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said in Lok Sabha in his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. – www.thehindubusinessline.com