India and the United States on Thursday signed a tax information sharing agreement that will facilitate exchange of information between the two countries beginning October.
Under this inter-governmental agreement to implement Foreign Account Tax Compliance (FATCA), Indian financial institutions will have to reveal information about US taxpayers to the revenue department which would be passed on to the US tax authorities. In turn, the US will also share similar information with India.
FATCA was signed here between Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and US Ambassador Richard Verma.
“The inter-governmental agreement (IGA) with US to implement FATCA is a very important step to tackle offshore tax evasion. It reaffirms the government’s commitment to fight the menace of black money,” Das said.
Verma said, “The signing of this agreement is an important step forward in the collaboration between the United States and India to combat tax evasion. FATCA is an important part of the US government’s effort to address that issue.”