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Swiss govt eases rules on black money info
New Delhi, February 15 But the European nation would still consider as impermissible any ‘fishing expeditions’ or allowing the foreign countries to trawl through Swiss bank accounts in the hope of finding something of their interest. The changes were made by the Swiss Government's finance ministry today through a revision of ‘Requirements for Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters’, an official said from Berne, Switzerland. The Indian Government is facing intense pressure from the Opposition, as also courts, to act tough against those who have stashed illicit wealth in foreign countries that have strict secrecy rules. The Swiss Parliament is debating a treaty between India and Switzerland to pave the way for the authorities here to seek details of illicit wealth stashed away by Indians in Swiss banks. As per the existing practice, the foreign country having an information exchange-facilitating treaty with Switzerland can get help from the Swiss government after providing the name and address of the suspected tax offender, as also those of the bank concerned. As per the revision, "other means of identification should also be admissible in the future". While Switzerland has not clarified what all 'other means' of identification
“Fishing expeditions continue to be impermissible,” it added. To bring this revision into effect, the administrative assistance provisions in double taxation agreements (DTAs) between Swiss and other governments would need to be revised. In the DTA negotiations up to now, including the one with India, the name and address of not only the person but also the bank is needed in administrative assistance requests. Besides, the ongoing parliamentary debate in Switzerland on 10 treaties, including the one with India, it has been said that “administrative assistance be permitted only if the name and address of the person and the information holder concerned are indicated in the request”. — PTI
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