India, New Zealand sign 3rd protocol for tax avoidance
The Dollar Business Bureau In order to stimulate the flow of information exchange between India and New Zealand, the Cabinet has given its nod to the ratification of third Protocol to the Convention between the two countries for the double taxation avoidance and prevention of fiscal evasion. “The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the ratification and entry into force of the third Protocol to the Convention between India and New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income (Convention), said an official statement on Wednesday. “The Protocol to the convention was inked on October 26, 2016,” it added. The Protocol will encourage the flow of information exchange between ...
Cabinet approves revised Indo-Cyprus tax treaty
The Dollar Business Bureau The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an agreement and a protocol between India and Cyprus to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion related to the taxes on income. The signing of the Indo-Cyprus tax treaty is considered to be another major step in the fight against tax evasion, round-tripping and base erosion or profit shifting, the Cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday. According to it, the government has recently amended a similar agreement with Mauritius to avoid double taxation. As provided in the treaty of Mauritius, the agreement with Cyprus was also amended for residence-based capital gains taxation. With Cabinet approving the revised tax treaty, capital gains of ...
States service sector to generate less revenue after GST rolls out
The Dollar Business Bureau Ruling out the earlier predictions that the states’ service sector will generate more revenue after the Goods and Service Tax (GST) is rolled out, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) said this could be a wild dream to chase. According to GIFT associate professor Jose Sebastian, the study undertaken by states highlight that states were responsible for only 1.30% of central service tax collection in 2012-13. The state’s service sector is dominated by small-scale businessmen, who fall below the proposed GST threshold of Rs.10 lakh. "What matters is not the size of the service sector per se, but the presence of taxable services and the size of service providers," Sebastian said while presenting his research paper at the ...
ASSOCHAM suggests changes to CBDT in FTC rules
The Dollar Business Bureau As the government is in the process of fine-tuning the tax regime with the nations which already have double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with India, the industry body ASSOCHAM has suggested Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to make some changes in the planned Foreign Tax Credit rules to ascertain the Indian tax payers are subjected to double taxation incidence on income. ASSOCHAM said in a statement “Difference in accounting practices followed by different countries would lead to a double taxation on the income of an Indian taxpayer.” Recently, ASSOCHAM had invited Rani Singh Nair, a member of the CBDT, and held a detailed discussion on the matter. CBDT has formed a committee to suggest the procedure for grant of Foreign ...
Tax dept inks seven new transfer pricing pacts
The Dollar Business Bureau As part of efforts to reduce tax disputes related to international transactions carried out by multinationals, the Indian Tax Department has signed seven new unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs), taking the total number of such pacts to 39. Of the total 39 APAs, 38 are unilateral and one is bilateral. “In the current fiscal year, which is the third year of APA programme, 30 agreements have been signed so far. Before the end of the financial year, more such agreements are expected to be signed,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The seven new APAs signed on Friday cover sectors like investment advisory, software development & IT enabled services and manufacturing. The initiative of ...
India, Japan sign protocol to update double taxation pact
The Dollar Business Bureau India and Japan on Friday signed a protocol for amending the existing convention for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion in regards to taxes on income. The existing convention was signed in 1989. “The protocol signed today gains all the more importance as it is being signed few hours before the arrival of the Prime Minister of Japan in India,” Ministry of Finance said in a statement. The agreement was signed between India’s Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Japan’s Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu. The protocol will enable the two countries to exchange information on tax matters, including bank information and information without domestic tax interest, through internationally accepted standards. ...
India signs advance pricing agreements with two MNCs
Source: PIB, Government of India As part of a major initiative to usher certainty in taxation, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into two unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) with two MNCs The agreements signed last week include the first APA with a “rollback” provision. An APA with the “rollback” provision extends tax certainty for nine financial years as against five years in APAs without “rollback”. With this, the CBDT has so far signed 14 APAs of which 13 are unilateral and one is bilateral. The signed APAs relate to various sectors including telecommunication, oil exploration, pharmaceuticals, finance/banking, software development services and ITeS (BPOs). Unilateral APAs have been signed between Indian taxpayers and the CBDT without involvement of the ...
