Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with 3 countries approved

NEW DELHI: In an effort to bring back black money stashed abroad, the government is learnt to have approved signing of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with three countries.

Sources in the Government said here that the Union Cabinet gave its nod to the Finance Ministry's proposal to sign DTAAs with Ethiopia, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had recently said that to deal with the black money menace, India had completed DTAA renegotiations with 23 countries, including Switzerland.

"Of the 65 countries, we have been able to complete the DTAA with 23 countries," he had said.

The Centre had recently informed the Supreme Court that it cannot make public names of the people who have stashed black money in foreign banks, saying it is not possible to disclose information received from foreign governments under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

Besides providing solutions to avoid double taxation of same income, the agreements generally provide for other matters of common interest of the two countries such as exchange of information, mutual assistance procedure for resolution of disputes and for mutual assistance in effecting recovery of taxes.

Treaties being international agreements, their consequences are determined according to the rules of Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969.