In a significant step amid the government’s clampdown on black money, India and Switzerland have signed a ‘Joint Declaration’ for implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information between the two countries which will enable New Delhi to receive details of accounts held by Indian residents in the European nation on an automatic basis.
India and Switzerland agreed to share information during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann in Geneva on June 6 this year.
“India will be able to receive from September 2019 onwards, the financial information of accounts of Indian residents in Switzerland on automatic basis,” Ministry of Finance said in a tweet.
The Joint Declaration was signed in Delhi by Sushil Chandra, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Gilles Roduit, Deputy Chief of Mission of Swiss Embassy in India.
The need for expeditious implementation of automatic exchange of information was discussed at the meeting between PM Modi and the Swiss President in June.
Following the meeting between two leaders, a high-level delegation from Switzerland had met top Finance Ministry officials to discuss wide ranging bilateral and multilateral tax and financial issues.
In his meetings with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Matters Jacques de Watteville had said that "Switzerland now has the necessary legal bases to begin with the implementation of automatic exchange of information (AEOI)" and a bilateral agreement can be reached by the end of this year.
