India-Swtizerland collaborate to reveal details of Swiss bank accounts

New Delhi: This September, tax authorities in India will be able to access banking details of Indians with accounts in Switzerland, reported PTI.

The move has been facilitated as a result of the beginning of the automatic exchange of information regime between India and Switzerland.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which frames policies for the Income Tax Department, said this is a significant step in the government’s fight against black money and the era of “Swiss bank secrecy” will finally be over from September, The Indian Express reported.

“India will receive information of the calendar year 2018 in respect of all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland,” the CBDT said in a statement.

A Swiss delegation led by the deputy head of the tax division in the state secretariat for international finance Nicolas Mario Luscher called on Revenue Secretary A B Pandey, CBDT chairman P C Mody and CBDT member Akhilesh Ranjan before the regime for the automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) kicked in.

Both sides discussed bilateral exchange of information matters to expedite execution of tax information-sharing requests made by India in specific cases.

The CBDT said, “Enhancing collaboration in offshore tax compliance matters was also discussed.”