The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved an Agreement between the Republic of India and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines for the Exchange of Information and Assistance in Collection with respect to Taxes.

Details of the Agreement:

i)     This is a new Agreement between the Republic of India and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines. There was no such agreement in past between the two countries.

ii)    Agreement mainly proposes to facilitate exchange of information between the two countries and to provide assistance to each other in collection of tax claims.

iii)    Agreement also contains tax examination abroad provisions which provide that a country may allow the representatives of the other country to enter its territory (to the extent permitted under its domestic laws) to interview individuals and examine records for tax purposes.

Impact:

Agreement between the Republic of India and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines will help in facilitating the exchange of information between the two countries including sharing of information held by the banks and other financial institutions encompassing the information regarding the legal and beneficial ownership. It will also facilitate the assistance in collection of the tax claims between the two countries. Thus, it will strengthen India's commitment to fight offshore tax evasion and tax avoidance practices leading to generation of unaccounted black money.

Background:

There was no such agreement with Saint Vincent and The Grenadines in the past and India was negotiating this agreement since a long time. Finally, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines agreed to conclude this agreement with India which will promote tax cooperation between the two countries through exchange of information and assistance in collection of outstanding tax claims between the two countries.

Exchange of information and assistance in collection enables cross border tax cooperation and recovery of outstanding tax claims. The agreement establishes a framework for Exchange of Information and Assistance in Collection between India and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, enabling mutual exchange of taxpayer information including bank and beneficial ownership data and cooperation in recovering outstanding tax claims. It includes provisions for tax examination abroad, allowing representatives to enter the other State, subject to domestic law, to interview individuals and examine records for tax purposes, thereby strengthening cross border tax cooperation and transparency to address offshore tax evasion and avoidance.