India made another move on black money by signing a pact with Switzerland on Tuesday to get access to information on Indian accounts held in Swiss Banks. will reveal it’s financial information with India.
The declaration has put an end to the era of Swiss Bank secrecy. It is in sync with the domestic move on black money by the Government of India.
Switzerland and India signed the joint declaration for the implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), which will come into effect from September 2019 and will not be applicable to accounts held before 2018.
Sushil Chandra, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Gilles Roduit, Swiss deputy chief in India, signed the pact between the two countries.
The CBDT chairman said, “As a result, it will now be possible for India to receive from September, 2019 onwards, the financial information of accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland for 2018 and subsequent years, on an automatic basis.”
Switzerland has always been a favourite destination of politicians and businessmen to stash illegal wealth. The country has secrecy laws which prevent the banks from revealing their clients’ identity.
In recent times, the Swiss Government was pressurised by leading nations of the World, including India and US, to reveal the identity of the account holders.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted, “Signing of joint declaration for implementation of automatic exchange of information (AEOI) between India and Switzerland is a big step. The income tax department will be able to obtain information from accounts of all Indians stashed in Switzerland from 2018 onwards.”
