MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 12th August, 2015
(INCOME-TAX)
S.O. 2192(E).-
Whereas, an agreement (hereinafter referred to as the said agreement) between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of San Marino, for the exchange of information with respect to taxes was signed at Rome, on the 19th day of December, 2013;
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And whereas, the date of entry into force of the said agreement is the 29th day of August, 2014, being the date of the later of the notifications of completion of the procedures as required by the respective laws for entry into force of the said agreement in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the said agreement;
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And whereas, paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the said agreement provides that the agreement shall enter into force on the date of later of the notifications and shall thereupon have effect forthwith;
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Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby directs that all provisions of the said agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of San Marino on the exchange of information with respect to taxes, as set out in the said agreement annexed hereto, shall have effect in the Union of India from the 29th day of August, 2014.
[Notification No. 63/15/F.No.500/02/2003-FTD-I]
AKHILESH RANJAN, Jt. Secy.
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of San Marino, desiring to facilitate the exchange of information with respect to taxes have agreed as follows:
Article I
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 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, the 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
- 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;
- b) San Marino, taxes of every kind and description, irrespective of the manner they are levied.
- 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 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 "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 "San Marino" means the territory of Republic of San Marino;
- c) the term "Contracting Party" means India or the San Marino, 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 San Marino, the Central Liaison Office (CLO), as the Authority designed by domestic Law for the purpose of Exchange of information;
- 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" shall bear the meaning 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-
- (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;
- 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.
- 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 10 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.
