India detects Rs 565 crore worth undisclosed income in France

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Undisclosed income of Indians totalling Rs 565 crore has been detected in France, according to Income Tax authorities, indicating that the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement is showing results.

The figure was disclosed in the information that India received from France on Indians having bank accounts, under the exchange of information clause of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the European country.

In 219 cases, the tax authorities have detected undisclosed income totalling Rs 565 crore and taxes amounting to Rs 181 crore have already been realised, the CBDT told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently.

In a presentation on NRI taxation, the CBDT said 30,765 pieces of domestic information about suspicious transactions have been obtained by field intelligence units (FIUs), which are under investigation by respective agencies.

The PAC was informed that this year, New Delhi has commenced tax information exchange agreements (TIEA) with 25 new jurisdictions.

As a result of TIEAs, requests from field officers to foreign tax authorities have increased from 39 in 2008-09 to 386 in 2011-13. Till June 30, 120 such requests have been made, the presentation said.

The CBDT said at the beginning of 2009, India had 78 DTAAs, 75 of which do not have provision for exchange of banking information. With six new DTAAs coming into force, India has a total of 84 such agreements with foreign countries.