India, Germany agree to enhance tax info sharing

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

India and Germany have agreed to enhance exchange of tax-related information and revise the bilateral tax pact.

The agreement on increased cooperation for exchange of financial information came after a meeting between Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and Germany State Secretary Johannes Geismann in Berlin last week.

The effort to seek more information from Germany forms part of the government’s exercise to counter the menace of tax evasion and stashing of black money abroad, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. During the meeting, issues relating to exchange of tax-related information, Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) negotiations were discussed, it added.

It was also agreed that India and Germany will continue to exchange tax-related information spontaneously on the basis of the existing agreements and explore other possibilities of enhancing exchange of information.