India to get details from Swiss banks by Dec

New Delhi: Switzerland today said it would be ready to conclude the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) by December this year. India will then be able to get information about illegal funds parked in Swiss banks.

India and Switzerland had signed an agreement on August 30, 2010 to amend the DTAA with a view to facilitating exchange of information between the two countries.

“The status is that the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is in Parliamentarian process in Switzerland. We are running through this process in the next couple of months... we will be ready by Swiss side to conclude the agreement before the end of this year,” Johann N Schneider-Ammann, Head of Federal Department of Economic Affairs in Switzerland told reporters today at MoU signing ceremony organised by Ficci.

The re-negotiated DTAA was signed by the two countries in August last year to enhance information flow for tax purposes. The re-negotiated treaty would allow India to ask for banking transaction and ownership details from the Swiss government for taxation purposes.

The revised DTAA also facilitates use of information received for purposes which are allowed under the laws of both the countries. In fact, information will be exchanged even if there is no domestic interest.

Source: Financial Express