India in talks with a number of countries for new tax treaties

New Delhi: India on Tuesday said negotiations are going on for signing new Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with Hong Kong, Iran, Nigeria and three other nations.

The three other countries are Azerbaijan, Chile and Venezuela, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed Rajya Sabha in in a written reply .

Besides, negotiations are also going on for entering into new Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with a host of jurisdictions, including Costa Rica, Panama, Maldives, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Barbados, Cook Islands, Jamaica, Peru and Saint Lucia.

Under these tax agreements, information on money deposited by Indians in specific cases can be received.

Jaitley further said the government has not identified any country as a tax haven.

“However, many of the countries with which we have exchange of information relationship… Are low or no tax jurisdictions,” he added.

The Finance Minister also said government is proactively engaged with foreign governments for exchange of information under the provisions of tax treaties.

At end of June, 2014, India had exchange of information instruments, like DTAA and TIEA, with 130 countries and jurisdictions.