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Switzerland is actively cooperating with the Indian tax authorities on a case-to-case basis and had in the recent past responded to several information requests made by India, Swiss Ambassador Linus Von Castelmur said here on Wednesday.
These responses, which have been done in accordance with the double taxation avoidance pact, is proof that Switzerland shares India’s fight against tax fraud and evasion, according to Swiss authorities.
Castelmur’s remarks are significant as they came on a day when a high-level Indian delegation led by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das was visiting Berne.
This visit is taking place within the framework of the ongoing dialogue between Swiss and Indian authorities. Bilateral and multilateral financial and tax topics were on the agenda of the meeting of the Indian delegation with Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Matters Jacques de Watteville, said a Swiss Finance Department official at Berne in an e-mailed response to BusinessLine .
This is the first high-level meeting between the two countries’ tax and financial authorities since the new Indian government took up office in May.
This official visit is part of the regular dialogue conducted by the Swiss and Indian authorities, said a spokesperson for Swiss Finance Department at Berne.
Asked about sharing of information on past cases (prior to the latest revision in DTAA), Castelmur told reporters here that there were still problems and that it had to be handled in a pragmatic way while respecting international obligations.
He also said Switzerland was not in position to share information on requests based on stolen data.
Both the joint economic commission and the financial dialogue are scheduled to take place in Berne in October and November respectively and the political dialogue is also scheduled in November.
“I am confident that the intensification of interaction between our two governments and authorities will soon spur our economic relations and translate into more trade and investment on both sides,” Castelmur said at an industry event in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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