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8
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY
[PART II—SEC. 3(ii)]
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 7th February, 2024
(INCOME-TAX)
S.O. 566(E).—Whereas, an agreement between the Government of Republic of India and Government of
Samoa for exchange of information with respect to taxes, was signed at Apia, Samoa on 12th day of March, 2020, as
set out in the Annexure to this notification (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”);
And, whereas, the said Agreement came into force on the 12th day of September, 2023, being the date of the
later of the notifications of the completion of the procedures required by the respective laws of the contracting states
for entry into force of the said Agreement, in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 12 of the said Agreement,
And, whereas, paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the said Agreement provides that the Agreement shall have effect
forthwith after the date of entry into force;
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 be given effect to in the Union of India.
ANNEXURE
“AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
AND
GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA
FOR
THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION
WITH RESPECT TO TAXES
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Samoa desiring to facilitate the exchange of
information 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. 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
Information shall be exchanged in accordance with this Agreement without regard to whether the person to whom the
information relates is, or whether the information is held by, a resident of a Contracting Party. However, a requested
Party is not obliged to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor is in the possession or control
of persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3
Taxes Covered
1. The taxes which are the subject of this Agreement are:
a) in 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;
[भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)]
भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण
9
b) in Samoa, taxes of every kind and description imposed by the Central/Federal Government or the
Governments of political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are
levied.
2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantially similar taxes imposed after the date of signature of
this Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties
shall notify each other of any substantial changes to the taxation and related information gathering measures which
may affect the obligations of that Party pursuant to this Agreement.
Article 4
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:
a)
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, other 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;
b)
the term "Samoa" means the Independent State of Samoa, including the territorial waters thereof;
c)
the term "Contracting Party" means India or Samoa as the context requires;
d)
the term "competent authority" means
i)
in the case of India, the Finance Minister, Government of India, or its authorized representative;
ii) in the case of Samoa, the Minister for Revenue or an authorised representative of the Minister for
Revenue;
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-
i) the National Stock Exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and any other stock exchange
recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India;
ii) any other stock exchange which the competent authorities agree to recognise for the purposes of this
Agreement.
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-
i) submitting a request for information to, or
ii) having received information from the Requested party
n)
the term "requested Party" means the Contracting Party-
i) which is requested to provide information, or
ii) which has provided information
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THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY
[PART II—SEC. 3(ii)]
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 "information" means any fact, statement, document or record in whatever form;
2. 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
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authority, for the purposes of this Agreement, has the
authority to obtain and provide upon request:
a)
information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person, including nominees and trustees,
acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;
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.
5. 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.
6. 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 the 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 information is requested;
(c)
the nature of the information requested and the form in which the requesting Party would prefer to receive it
;
(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;
[भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)]
भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण
11
(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.
7. 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.
Article 6
Tax Examinations Abroad
1. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the requested Party may allow
representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party, to
the extent permitted under its domestic laws, to interview individuals and examine records with the prior written
consent of the individuals or other persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall
notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the time and place of the intended meeting with the
individuals concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the requested Party may allow
representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to be present at the appropriate part of a tax
examination in the requested Party, in which case the competent authority of the requested Party conducting the
examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Party about the time
and place of the examination, the authority or official designated to carry out the examination and the
procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with
respect to the conduct of the tax examination shall be made by the Party conducting the examination.
Article 7
Possibility of Declining a Request for information
1. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist:
(a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement; or
(b) where the requesting Party has not pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information,
except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty; or
(c) where disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public) of the requested Party.
2. This Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation:
(i) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional
secret or trade process, provided that information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5 shall not be treated
as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria in that paragraph; or
(ii) to obtain or provide information, which would reveal confidential communications between a client and
an attorney, solicitor or other admitted legal representative where such communications are:
(a) produced for the purposes of seeking or providing legal advice or
(b) produced for the purposes of use in existing or contemplated legal proceedings; or
(iii) to carry out administrative measures at variance with its laws and administrative practices, provided
nothing in this subparagraph shall affect the obligations of a Contracting Party under paragraph 4 of
Article 5.
3. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.
4. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain and provide information which the requesting Party would be
unable to obtain in similar circumstances under its own laws for the purpose of the administration or enforcement of
its own tax laws or in response to a valid request from the requested Party under this Agreement.
5. The requested Party shall not decline to provide information solely because the request does not include all the
information required under Article 5 if the information can otherwise be provided according to the law of the
requested Party.
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THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY
[PART II—SEC. 3(ii)]
Article 8
Confidentiality
Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be
disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the
Contracting Party concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the
determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by this Agreement. Such persons or authorities shall use such
information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceeding or in judicial
decisions. The information may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or any other jurisdiction
without the express written consent of the competent authority of the Requested Party.
Article 9
Costs
1. Unless the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties otherwise agree, ordinary costs incurred in providing
assistance shall be borne by the requested Party, and, subject to the provisions of this Article, extraordinary costs
incurred in providing assistance shall, if they exceed 500 US Dollars, be borne by the requesting Party.
2. The competent authorities will consult each other, in advance, in any particular case where extraordinary costs are
likely to exceed 500 US Dollars to determine whether the requesting Party will continue to pursue the request and bear
the cost.
3. The competent authorities shall consult from time to time with regard to this Article.
4. Ordinary costs include internal administration costs, any minor external costs and overhead expenses incurred by
the requested Party in reviewing and responding to information requests submitted by the requested Party. Examples
of extraordinary costs incurred in providing assistance include, but are not limited to the following:
a) reasonable fees charged by third parties for copying documents on behalf of the requested Party;
b) reasonable costs of engaging interpreters, translators or other agreed experts;
c) reasonable costs of conveying documents to the requesting Party;
d) reasonable litigation costs of the requested Party in relation to a specific request for information; and
e) reasonable costs for obtaining depositions or testimony.
Article 10
Implementation Legislation
The Contracting Parties shall enact any legislation necessary to comply with, and give effect to, the terms of the
Agreement. Such legislation shall be enacted within six months of entry into force of this Agreement.
Article 11
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties regarding the implementation or
interpretation of the Agreement, the competent authorities shall endeavour to resolve the matter by mutual
agreement. In addition, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on the
procedures to be used under Articles 5, 6 and 9 of this Agreement.
2. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may communicate with each other directly for purposes of
reaching agreement under this Article.
Article 12
Entry into Force
1. The Contracting Parties shall notify each other in writing, through diplomatic channels, of the completion of the
procedures required by the respective laws for the entry into force of this Agreement.
2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the later of the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 of this
Article and shall thereupon have effect forthwith.
Article 13
Termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Contracting Party.
[भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)]
भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण
13
2. Either Contracting Party may, after the expiry of five years from the date of its entry into force, terminate the
Agreement by serving a written notice of termination to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels.
3. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six
months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Contracting Party. All requests received up to the
effective date of termination shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement.
In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement.
DONE in duplicate at Apia, Samoa on 12 March 2020, each in the Hindi and English languages, both texts being
equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.
For the Government of the
Republic of India
For the Government of
Samoa
Sd/-
Sd/-
(Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi)
High Commissioner of India to the
Independent State of Samoa
(Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi)
Prime Minister of Independent State of Samoa”
[Notification No. 21/2024 F. No. 503/06/2012-FTD.II]
SANTOSH KUMAR, Director
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.
