CBDT inaugurates Web Portal for exchange of information on Income Tax

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has inaugurated the Web Portal for Exchange of Information on Income Tax which will consolidate all relevant Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) related information at one place. This portal will help in convenient access by public, financial institutions as well as departmental officers at large.

Web Portal for Exchange of Information on Income Tax

The Web Portal would be a repository of policy and technical circulars, guidance, notifications issued by the CBDT. It would provide links to relevant circulars, guidance issued by regulatory authorities in India and other international bodies.

The portal would not only be useful for domestic financial institutions but will also help foreign financial institutions as well as tax authorities to get information about Indian laws, rules and procedures related to AEOI under Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

Background

To implement the AEOI standard, necessary domestic legal framework was put in place in 2015. Later, on August 2015 a comprehensive Guidance Note was released for providing guidance to financial institutions, sectoral regulators as well as Income Tax (IT) Department officers for ensuring compliance with reporting requirements under IT Act and Rules. Under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), India is committed to exchange financial account information automatically from 2017. Also, financial institutions annually reports information which are then exchanged by India under the standard.

Sectoral regulators have issued necessary notifications and circulars for compliance by financial institutions. To educate financial institutions about their reporting obligations, CBDT also carries out stakeholder consultations. Moreover, to reach out to financial institutions and account holders, CBDT has also created an Exchange of Information portal on Income-tax Department website for dissemination of information to all stakeholders.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019