Tax Treaty

A key change is that French companies which hold a stake of more than 10 per cent in any Indian entity will have to pay a 5 per cent tax on the dividends they receive, instead of 10 per cent earlier

India is a "strong champion" in implementing transparency measures against offshore tax evasion and its recent campaign asking taxpayers to correctly report their undisclosed foreign assets has led to disclosure of properties worth more than Rs 29,000 crore, a top OECD official has said. Head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretariat Zayda Manatta told PTI in an interview that these "notable" outcomes were a result of India's "commitment" to global tax transparency and automatic exchange of information standards. Manatta was here recently for the OECD annual plenary meeting of the 'Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes' hosted by New Delhi between December 2 and 4. The France headquartered OECD is a globally recognised body that works for economic and social policy promotion. The Global Forum had 172 countries as its members. "India is a strong champion in tax transparency and has been supporting the work of

India has cut down by two years the local remedies exhaustion period for UAE investors from five years under the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), which came into effect between the two countries in August. The treaty, which is aimed at providing comfort to investors of both countries, also includes portfolio investments in a deviation from such treaties in the past. Local remedies exhaustion means that investors must first try to resolve their disputes using the legal system of the host country before they can take the matter to international arbitration. The treaty signed between India and the UAE in February has been enforced from August 31 this year, a finance ministry statement said. "Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) through arbitration with mandatory exhaustion of local remedies for three years," the finance ministry said in a statement. The Model BIT requires investors to attempt resolving disputes through India's legal system for at least five years before seeking

The form 10F is signed physically by the Non resident taxpayers and furnished along with the tax residency certificate to the resident payers for the purpose of determining withholding tax implication

The I-T department observes irregularities in tax filings of 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16

Invokes 'most-favoured nation' clause and applies lower 5% withholding tax on dividend income under India-Netherlands tax treaty

At present, the withholding tax provisions do not allow Indian companies to apply lower treaty rates while deducting tax at source (TDS) on dividends paid to FPIs

While the ratio determines the extent to which the government is able to finance its expenditure, it is also an indicator of tax compliance

More than 50 overseas investors moving to tax-friendly European nations

Protocol will also ensure prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income

Text of revised tax treaty with Cyprus shows New Delhi gave it relatively less concession on interest levy

The redrawn Mauritius treaty will trigger a similar amendment in India's tax treaty with Singapore