Information on tax matters to be sought by field officers of the Income Tax Department from countries/jurisdictions with which India has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) or Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) under the relevant “Exchange of Information” Article of DTAA/TIEA
1. Kindly refer to the above.
2. Information on tax matters is being sought by field officers of the Income Tax Department
from countries/jurisdictions with which India has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) or Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) under the relevant 'Exchange of
Information' Article of DTAA/TIEA through the office of competent authority viz. the Joint
Secretary in the Foreign Tax and Tax Division, CBDT. Presently the above information is
being sought obtained in a prescribed checklist/proforma (copy enclosed as Annexure-A).
Further in the case of U.K. for obtaining banking information, a separate proforma has been
prescribed by U.K. tax authorities (copy enclosed as Annexure-B).
3. Considering the developments at International Forums including the Model Proforma for
the exchange of information being developed by the OECD, it is proposed to change the
existing proforma. Further, it is proposed to have a separate proforma for obtaining any
information relating to Transfer Pricing and prescription of a separate proforma for the same.
4. In view of the above, I am directed to request you to give your comments and views on the
following to the FT and TR division by the 15th December, 2011:
(a) for developing separate proforma (T.P.) for Transfer Pricing cases
(b) for any improvement required to be made to the present Proforma prescribed for
obtaining information from countries/jurisdictions with which India has DTAA/TIEA.
(c) Any other suggestion relating to the above
5. I am also directed to state that, at present, the request may be sent to FTandTR Division by
the concerned Commissioner of Income Tax/Director of Income Tax as per the following
guidelines:
(a) Request should be made in the checklist/proforma as per Annexure A and
Annexure B.
(b) Request for the exchange of information may be addressed by the concerned
Commissioner of Income Tax/Director of Income Tax to JS (FT and TR-I), CBDT,
New Delhi, for the North America including Caribbean Island, Europe and Japan and
to JS(FT and TR-II), CBDT, New Delhi, for the rest of the world.
(c) The request for exchange of information for the cases getting time barred on 31st
December, 2011 should be received in the office of JS (FT and TR-I) or JS(FT and
TR-II), as the case maybe, by 15th December, 2011.
(d) Separate requests should be made for different tax payers even if the case pertains
to same country or same foreign entity. Further, separate requests should be made for
different countries even if the cases pertain to the same assessee.
6. The above may be brought to the notice of all officers of your region. This issues with the
approval of Chairman, CBDT.
Annexure - A
"Exchange of Information" Proforma/Checklist
Proforma for Seeking Specific Information under the Provisons of "Exchange of
Information" Article of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
1. Name and address of the specific taxpayer whose tax liability is the subject of
investigation.
2. Name and address of the concerned foreign person(s)/entity/company etc.
3. The specific tax periods (years) involved please specify the start date and ending date of
the tax year, e.g. April 1, 2002 through March 31, 2003.
4. The specific taxes involved; e.g. individual income, corporate income.
5. The specific question(s)/point(s) of the which information is needed.
6. Relevance of why the information is needed and the issue being examined; e.g. unreported
income, need bank records from taxpayer's account with XYZ bank in the concerned country,
specify the time period when records are required, if the time period is outside the year(s)
under investigation, please specify why this additional information is required.
7. Statement that the information is required purely for taxation purposes and will be used
solely for taxation purposes.
(It may be noted that CHECK LIST should be furnished in duplicate, meant for each country
separately, if information is required from more than one country)
Annexure - B
Details Required to Obtain Banking Information
1. Full name, date of birth and nationality (of both spouses if applicable).
2. Residence position if not of Indian origin (date became resident for tax purposes in India)
3. The date your investigation commenced, and the reasons for the investigation, for instance
if living beyond declared means then, a best estimate of annual expenditure should be given
together with known/declared income for the years covered by the request.
4. If self-employed, the following in respect of for the years covered by the request
• Nature of business operated
• Business address (if different from the private address)
• Annual value of sales (turnover)
5. If employed/ a director, the following in respect of for the years covered by the request
a. Name of the employer(s)
b. Date employment(s)/directorship (s) commenced/ceased
c. Amount of remuneration declared upon personal tax returns (and within company
accounts if a director)
d. The nature of the employers business
6. Full details of any other declared upon personal tax returns (on a yearly basis) by the
family unit in respect of for the years covered by the request.
7. Confirmation of whether or not any interest figure declared upon the personal tax returns in
the period covered by the request has been reconciled to known accounts, together with the
number of known accounts held
a. With Indian banks
b. Other banks
c. Clarifying whether or not any interest earned on the U.K. accounts may have been
omitted.
8. A comment convening cases involving capital accumulation, detailing the source, if
known, or extent of explanation provided.
9. The period of the investigation and the period for which the information is required, it is
different
10. A description of the documents/information required. In the case of bank statements all
the following is required.
a. Name of the bank
b. Sort code or branch address.
c. Account number.
11. The relevant fact or evidence established so far, identifying the source of the information
(that is the taxpayer's statement, third party statements, and documents). Copies of relevant
documents should be enclosed.
12. The relevance of the required documents. What you think they will show, how the will
assist your investigation and why they are considered essential to the outcome of your
investigation, (for instance the extent to which the transactions /income reflected therein are
suspected of being suppressed/needed for verification purpose etc.)
13. Details of any other irregularities uncovered by your investigation, any inferences or
conclusions drawn so far with reasoning. This is very important, if any irregularities have
already been discovered, then this carries a lot of weight before the Commissioners.
14. The actions already taken as part of your investigation to obtain the required documents
and the extent of the taxpayers' co-operation in this endeavour, (has the taxpayer made any
admissions or denials, or refused to provide either the documents or an authority enabling
you to approach the bank direct?). It may be appropriate to say that "All informal avenues
have been exhausted".
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