Switzerland gave India the second set of Swiss bank details of its nationals and entities
New Delhi:
India obtained the second set of Swiss bank details of its nationals and entities under the automatic exchange of information pact with Switzerland, marking a key milestone in the government’s fight against allegedly hidden black money in India. abroad.
India is one of 86 countries with which Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) exchanged financial account information this year under global AEOI standards.
India had received the first set of details from Switzerland in September 2019 under the AEOI (automatic exchange of information), when it concerned 75 countries.
The exchange of information this year covered nearly 3.1 million financial accounts (31 lakh), FTA said in a statement Friday. The number of these accounts was similar in 2019.
Although the statement does not explicitly name India among the 86 countries, officials told the PTI news agency that India is among the most important countries with which Switzerland has shared financial accounts details. clients of Swiss banks and various other financial institutions.
Officials further said that a “significant number” concerns Indian citizens and entities in the global exchange of information on more than three million Swiss financial accounts this year with 86 countries.
In addition, Swiss authorities have already shared information on more than 100 Indian citizens and entities over the past year upon receipt of requests for administrative assistance in cases involving investigations of financial crimes, including the tax evasion, officials added.
These cases mainly concern older accounts that could have been closed before 2018, for which Switzerland has shared details with India under a previous framework of mutual administrative assistance, as Indian authorities have provided prima facie of tax wrongdoing committed by these account holders. AEOI only applies to accounts active or closed in 2018.
Some of these cases involve entities created by Indians in various overseas jurisdictions such as Panama, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, while the individuals mainly include businessmen and a few politicians and former members of the the royal family as well as members of their families.
Officials, however, declined to share details on the exact number of accounts or the amount of assets held in accounts held by Indians, for which the information was shared with India, citing strict confidentiality clauses governing the framework. exchange.
The information shared by the Swiss authorities includes identifying, account and financial information, such as name, address, country of residence and tax identification number, as well as information regarding the reporting financial institution. , account balance and capital income.
The information exchanged will allow the tax authorities to verify whether taxpayers have correctly declared their financial accounts in their tax returns. The next exchange would take place in September 2021.
In its statement, FTA said the 86 countries covered by AEOI this year include 11 new jurisdictions – Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Grenada, Israel, Kuwait, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Panama and the United Arab Emirates – in more to the existing list of 75 countries, with which information was shared last year.
In addition, FTA said the information exchange this year was reciprocal with 66 countries. In the case of 20 countries, Switzerland received information but did not provide it, either because these countries do not yet meet international requirements in terms of confidentiality and data security (9 countries), or because ‘they have chosen not to receive data (11 countries).
A total of 38 countries will provide their data to Switzerland in accordance with the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) by December 31, 2020. These countries reported technical difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The first such exchange in Switzerland took place at the end of September 2018 and involved 36 countries, but India was not on the list at that time.
Currently, approximately 8,500 reporting financial institutions (banks, trusts, insurers, etc.) are registered with FTA. These institutions collected the data and transferred it to FTA. The number rose to about 7,500 last year.
FTA sent information on approximately 3.1 million financial accounts to partner states and received information on approximately 8.15,000 financial accounts from them.
FTA also said it could not provide any information on the amount of financial assets.
Switzerland is committed to adopting the global standard for the international automatic exchange of information in tax matters. the legal basis for the implementation of the AEOI in Switzerland entered into force on January 1, 2017.
This is the second time that India has received information from the Swiss authorities under the AEOI, which provides for the exchange of information on financial accounts, currently active, as well as on accounts that were closed in 2018, year in which the framework agreement entered into force. .
However, AEOI only applies to accounts that are officially in the name of Indians and may include those used for business and other real purposes.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development World Forum reviews the implementation of the AEOI.
According to experts, the data received by India can be very useful in establishing solid lawsuits against those with unrecorded wealth, as it provides full details on deposits and transfers as well as all income including through investments in securities and others. assets.
On condition of anonymity, several officials said the details mainly concerned businessmen, including non-resident Indians now settled in several Southeast Asian countries as well as the United States, United Kingdom. United and even in some countries of Africa and South America.
A Swiss delegation was in India in August last year before the first set of details could be shared and the two sides also discussed possible measures to expedite the execution of tax information sharing requests made by the India in specific cases.
It is feared that many Indians closed their accounts after a global crackdown on black currency led Switzerland to buckle under international pressure to open its banking sector to scrutiny in order to clarify the long-standing perception of black money. Swiss banks as a safe haven for undisclosed funds.
Switzerland accepted the AEOI with India after a long process, including a review of the necessary legal framework in India on data protection and privacy.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
