notification no. 96/2023 f.no. 503/12/2012 ftd.i / so 4756 e

[भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)] भारत का राजपत्र : ऄसाधारण 9 MINISTRY OF FINANCE (Department of Revenue) NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 1st November, 2023 (Income- Tax) S.O. 4756(E).—Whereas, an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for the Exchange of Information and Assistance in collection with respect to taxes, was signed at Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on the 19th day of May of 2022, as set out in the Annexure to this notification (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement); And whereas, the said Agreement entered into force on the 14th day of February, 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 Agreement, And whereas, paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the said Agreement also 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 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 SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE IN COLLECTION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 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. 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 or assistance in collection. 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. 10 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—SEC. 3(ii)] 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; b) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, taxes of every kind and description imposed by the Central Government 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 and assistance in collection 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 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, means mainland Saint Vincent and the thirty two islands and cays which comprise the Grenadines; c) the term “Contracting Party” means India or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 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 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Minister of Finance, or his duly authorised 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 anybody 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) in India, the National Stock Exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and any other stock exchange recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India; (ii) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange or any other stock exchange recognised by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission; and (iii) 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- [भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)] भारत का राजपत्र : ऄसाधारण 11 (i) submitting a request for information to, or (ii) having received information from, or (iii) submitting a request for assistance in collection of tax to, 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, or (iii) which is requested to provide 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 that enable a Contracting Party to collect and remit the requested tax claim; q) 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 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. 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 ;