India, US ink pact for implementation of FATCA and CRS

India and the United States have inked an inter-governmental agreement for implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

A Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) release issued on Thursday said that the Government of India has also joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Automatic Exchange of Information as per Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

The release further states that for implementation of FATCA and CRS, necessary legislative changes have been made in the Income-tax Act, 1961 and Income-tax Rules, 1962.

Rules 114F, 114G and 114H and Form 61B have been inserted to provide legal basis for the Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs) for maintaining and reporting information about the Reportable Accounts.

The guidance note was released on August 31, 2015 for ensuring compliance with the reporting requirements provided in Rules 114F to 114H and Form 61B of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

Based on comments and feedback received, this Guidance Note has been updated on December 31, 2015. The same has been placed on the Income-tax website http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in.