Revised Indo-Swiss tax treaty comes into effect

New Delhi: The revised Indo-Swiss taxation treaty came into effect today, a development that will allow India to seek specific information on black money and tax evasion cases dating back to January, 2011. The pact with Switzerland comes into force at a time when the black money issue has sparked a political debate in India. Senior BJP leader L K Advani has said that he would highlight the issue during his ‘Jan Chetna Yatra’ starting tomorrow. Today, the revised double taxation agreement with India in the area of taxes on income and capital entered into force. “It contains provisions on the exchange of information in accordance with international standard applicable at present,” Swiss Federal Department of Finance said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_104344” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The provisions of the agreement will apply in India to income originating in tax years which start on or after 1 April, 2012. Reuters”]  [/caption] The treaty will be applicable in Switzerland on income originating in tax years starting on or after 1 January 2012. When it comes to exchange of information, the provisions in the treaty would “apply to information referring to tax years which start on or after 1 January, 2011”. The revised treaty would allow India to seek information on cases related to tax evasion. Under the earlier pact, India could only seek bank details in relation to tax fraud cases. The provisions of the agreement will apply in India to income originating in tax years which start on or after 1 April, 2012," the statement added. The treaty will contribute to further the positive development of bilateral economic relations, it said. The revised treaty was approved by Swiss Parliament on 17 June. As per Swiss rules, bilateral tax treaties would be subject to public scrutiny for a period of 100 days which ended on 6 October. India had inked the agreement with Switzerland to revise the treaty in August 2010. The latest data from Swiss National Bank show the total deposits of Indian individuals and companies in Swiss banks were about USD 2.5 billion at the end of 2010. PTI