India-Mauritius tax treaty revision talks on, says Tax official

India is engaged in "positive talks" with Mauritius on revision of bilateral tax treaty as some issues still need to be sorted out, an official said today.

"Negotiations have been going on. Talks with Mauritius have been an ongoing feature. There are several issues which have been sorted out. There are some issues which still are being discussed...Positive talks are going on," said Department of Revenue Joint Secretary Akhilesh Ranjan.

Right to levy capital gains tax by India is also part discussions, he said, adding it would be difficult to share specific details of ongoing negotiation.

"Host of issues are being discussed including way and means of ensuring tax treaties are used for tax avoidance," he said.

The government is in the process of revising the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius. Tax treaty amendments, hanging in balance for many years, are aimed at addressing India's concerns over the island nation being allegedly used to route illicit funds into the country.

With regard to FATCA, he said, the tax authorities have received some information from the US and is being processed.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) came into effect from September 30.

The Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between India and US, signed as part of FATCA implementation, requires the Indian Financial Institutions to provide necessary information to Indian tax authorities, which will then be transmitted to the US automatically.

"We have received information that's now being processed. The information exchange started on September 30. We have sent some information and we have received some and that is being analysed," he said.

On Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA), he said, there are discussion going on with more than 20 more countries.

India has signed the TIEA with over 100 countries.