MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 4th March, 2020
S.O. 1009(E).—Whereas, an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the
Government of Brunei Darussalam for the exchange of information and assistance in collection with respect
of taxes (hereinafter referred to as the said Agreement) as set out in the annexure to this notification, was
signed at New Delhi, India on the 28th day of February, 2019;
And whereas, the said Agreement entered into force on the 30th January, 2020 being the thirtieth day after
the date of the later of the notifications of the completion of the procedures required by the respective laws
for bringing into force the said Agreement, in accordance with Article 12 of the said Agreement;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 90 of the Income-tax Act,
1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby notifies that all the provisions of the said Agreement, as
annexed hereto, shall have effect in the Union of India.
ANNEXURE
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN AND YANG DI-PERTUAN OF BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE IN COLLECTION WITH RESPECT
TO TAXES
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-
Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, desiring to facilitate the exchange of information and assistance in
collection with respect to taxes, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
Object and Scope of the Agreement
The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information
that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting
Parties concerning taxes covered by this Agreement. Such information shall include information that is
foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement
of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Information shall be exchanged in accordance
with the provisions of this Agreement and shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 8.
The competent authorities shall also lend assistance to each other in the collection of tax claims. The rights and
safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the requested Party remain applicable to
the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.
Article 2
Jurisdiction
A Contracting Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor in the
possession or control of persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3
Taxes Covered
- The taxes which are the subject of this Agreement are:
- (a) in the case of Brunei Darussalam, all taxes imposed or administered by the Government of Brunei
Darussalam;
- (b) in the case of India, taxes of every kind and description imposed by the Central Government or the
Governments of political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they
are levied.
- This Agreement shall also apply to any identical taxes imposed after the date of signature of this
Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. This Agreement shall also apply to any
substantially similar taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to or in place
of the existing taxes if the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties so agree. The competent
authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any substantial changes to the taxation and
related information gathering measures and assistance in collection measures which may affect the obligations
of that Party pursuant to this Agreement.
Article 4
Definitions
- For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:
- (a) the term “Brunei Darussalam” means the territory of Brunei Darussalam including its territorial
sea, extending to the airspace above such territory, over which it exercises sovereignty, and the
maritime area beyond its territorial sea, including sea-bed and subsoil, which has been or may
hereafter be designated under the laws of Brunei Darussalam as an area over which it exercises
sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law;
- (b) the term “India” means the territory of India and includes the territorial sea and airspace above
it, as well as any other maritime zone in which India has sovereign rights and jurisdiction,
according to the Indian law and in accordance with international law, including the U.N.
Convention on the Law of the Sea;
- (c) the term “Contracting Party” means Brunei Darussalam or India as the context requires;
- (d) the term “competent authority” means
- (i) in the case of Brunei Darussalam, the Minister of Finance or his authorized
representative;
- (ii) in the case of India, the Finance Minister, Government of India, or his authorized
representative;
- (e) the term “person” includes an individual, a company, a body of persons and any other entity
which is treated as a taxable unit under the taxation laws in force in the respective Contracting
Parties;
- (f) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate
for tax purposes;
- (g) the term “publicly traded company” means any company whose principal class of shares is listed
on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the
public. Shares can be purchased or sold “by the public” if the purchase or sale of shares is not
implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
- (h) the term “principal class of shares” means the class or classes of shares representing a majority
of the voting power and value of the company;
- (i) the term “recognised stock exchange” means the National Stock Exchange of India, the Bombay
Stock Exchange, any other stock exchange recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of
India, and any other stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Contracting
Parties;
- (j) the term “collective investment fund or scheme” means any pooled investment vehicle,
irrespective of legal form;
- (k) the term “public collective investment fund or scheme” means any collective investment fund or
scheme provided the units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily
purchased, sold or redeemed by the public. Units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme
can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed “by the public” if the purchase, sale or redemption is
not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
- (l) the term “tax” means any tax to which this Agreement applies;
- (m) the term “requesting Party” means the Contracting Party requesting information or
submitting a request for assistance in collection of tax to the requested Party;
- (n) the term “requested Party” means the Contracting Party requested to provide information
or assistance in collection of tax;
- (o) the term “information gathering measures” means laws and administrative or judicial procedures
that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the requested information;
- (p) the term “assistance in collection measures” means laws and administrative or judicial
procedures as provided by the domestic law of a Contracting Party that enable the Contracting
Party to collect and remit the requested tax claim; and
- (q) the term “information” means any fact, statement, document or record in whatever form.
- As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Contracting Party, any term not defined
therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires or the competent authorities agree to a common meaning
pursuant to the provisions of Article 11 of this Agreement, have the meaning that it has at that time under the
law of that Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Party prevailing over a meaning given to
the term under other laws of that Party.
Article 5
Exchange of Information Upon Request
- The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request information for the purposes
referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the requested Party
needs such information for its own tax purposes or whether the conduct being investigated would constitute a
crime under the laws of the requested Party if such conduct occurred in the requested Party.
- If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Party is not sufficient to
enable it to comply with the request for information, that Party shall use all relevant information gathering
measures to provide the requesting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested
Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes.
- If specifically requested by the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of
the requested Party shall provide information under this Article, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws,
in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.
- Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authority, for the purposes specified in Article
1 of this Agreement, has the authority to obtain and provide upon request:
- (a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person, acting in an agency or
fiduciary capacity including nominees and trustees;
- (b) information regarding the legal and beneficial ownership of companies, partnerships, collective
investment funds or schemes, trusts, foundations, “Anstalten” and other persons, including,
within the constraints of Article 2, ownership information on all such persons in an ownership
chain; in the case of collective investment funds or schemes, information on shares, units and
other interests; in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees and beneficiaries; in the
case of foundations, information on founders, members of the foundation council and
beneficiaries; and equivalent information in case of entities that are neither trusts nor
foundations.
- This Agreement does not create an obligation on the Contracting Parties to obtain or provide ownership
information with respect to publicly traded companies or public collective investment funds or schemes unless
such information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.
- The competent authority of the requesting Party shall provide the following information to the competent
authority of the requested Party when making a request for information under this Agreement to demonstrate the
foreseeable relevance of the information to the request:
- (a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;
- (b) the period for which the information is requested;
- (c) a statement of the information sought including its nature and the form in which the requesting
Party wishes to receive the information from the requested Party;
- (d) the tax purpose for which the information is sought;
- (e) grounds for believing that the information requested is present in the requested Party or is in the
possession or control of a person within the jurisdiction of the requested Party;
- (f) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession or control
of the requested information;
- (g) a statement that the request is in conformity with the laws and administrative practices of the
requesting Party, that if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the requesting
Party then the competent authority of the requesting Party would be able to obtain the
information under the laws of the requesting Party or in the normal course of administrative
practice and that it is in conformity with this Agreement;
- (h) a statement that the requesting Party has pursued all means available in its own territory to
obtain the information, except those that would give rise to disproportionate difficulties.
- The competent authority of the requested Party shall forward the requested information as promptly as
possible to the requesting Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the requested Party
shall:
- (a) Confirm receipt of a request in writing to the competent authority of the requesting Party and
shall notify the competent authority of the requesting Party of deficiencies in the request, if any,
within 60 days of the receipt of the request.
- (b) If the competent authority of the requested Party has been unable to obtain and provide the
information within 90 days of receipt of the request, including if it encounters obstacles in
furnishing the information or it refuses to furnish the information, it shall immediately inform
the requesting Party, explaining the reason for its inability, the nature of the obstacles or the
reasons for its refusal.
