India, US committed to collaboration in tackling offshore tax evasion

India and the United States India have reiterated their committment to collaborate in tackling offshore tax evasion and avoidance, including joint tax audits and tax examination abroad.

A joint statement issued after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and U.S Treasury Secretary Mr Jacob J. Lew met for the Sixth Annual US-India Economic and Financial Partnership (EFP) in Washington D.C. yesterday, said, "We look forward to the competent authorities of the two countries engaging in bilateral dialogue to move forward in cooperation in these areas."

The joint statement further said that that both sides were pleased to note the progress being made to deepen mutual understanding and to improve cooperation across a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues.

The statement reiterated that the US-India partnership will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century.

It was mentioned that significant progress has been made in the five work streams at the sub-cabinet level in India and the United States.

"Over the past year, our tax authorities resolved a significant portion of bilateral tax disputes between the United States and India. In addition, our governments have begun to accept bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement applications by companies in both jurisdictions in an effort to enhance cross-border business processes and strengthen our commercial ties. We have noted the progress in sharing of financial information between the two countries under the Inter-Governmental Agreement pursuant to Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The two sides will continue to engage in discussions on full reciprocal arrangement on FATCA. We look forward to increased cooperation in sharing of cross-border tax-information," the joint statement said.

"We have enhanced our cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism through increased information sharing and cooperation, including a dialogue held recently in India. We both agree on the importance of fighting illicit finance in all forms as an important means of tackling global terrorism."

"Finally, we are committed to further deepen our understanding of each other's economies. As partners and peers, we are committed to working together to collaborate in multilateral fora, such as the G20, to steer our economies toward stronger, sustainable, and balanced growth. Under the aegis of our Economic and Financial Partnership, we held a sub-cabinet level discussion among our Deputies in India in early 2016," the joint statement said.