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TMI BlogU/s 90 of the IT Act, 1961 - Double Taxation Agreement - Agreement for Exchange of Information with respect to taxes with British Virgin IslandsX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ( b ) of Article 14 of the said Agreement provides that the provisions of the said Agreement shall have effect with respect to all other matters covered in Article 1, for taxable periods beginning on or after that date, or where there is no taxable period, for all charges to tax arising on or after that date; 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 the provisions of the said Agreement, as set out in the Annexure hereto, shall be given effect to in the Union of India with respect to criminal tax matters immediately and with respect to all other matters covered in Article 1, for taxable periods beginning on or after the 22nd day of August, 2011 or where there is no taxable period, for all charges to tax arising on or after the 22nd day of August, 2011. ANNEX AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAXES Whereas India and the British Virgin Islands ("the Contracting Parties") wish to enhance and facilitate the terms and conditions governing the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d information gathering measures covered by this Agreement. ARTICLE 4 DEFINITIONS 1. In this Agreement- ( a ) "British Virgin Islands" means the territory of the Virgin islands as referred to in the Virgin islands Constitution Order 2007; ( b ) "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; ( c ) "citizen" means: ( i ) in relation to India, a citizen of India deriving the status as such from any law in force in India; ( ii ) in relation to the British Virgin Islands, any person who belongs to the British Virgin Islands by virtue of the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 (Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 1678) or has a certificate of residence of the British Virgin Islands by virtue of the Immigration and Passport Ordinance (Cap. 130); ( d ) "collective investment scheme or fund" means any pooled investment vehicle irrespective of legal form; ( e ) "company" means any body c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) "Requesting Party" means the party to this Agreement submitting a request for information to, or having received information from, the Requested Party; ( s ) "tax" means any tax covered by this Agreement. 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 13 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 poss ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en making a request for information under this Agreement in order 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 ) the nature and type of the information requested and the form in which the Requesting Party would prefer to receive the information; ( d ) the tax purposes for which the information is sought; ( e ) reasonable grounds for believing that the information requested is present in the territory of the Requested Party or is in the possession or control of a person subject to 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 information requested; ( g ) a statement that the request is in conformity with this Agreement and the laws and administrative practices of the Requesting Party, and that if the requested information were 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 Reques ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the Requesting Party of the time and place of the examination, the authority or person authorised to carry out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the Requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions regarding the conduct of the examination shall be made by the Requested Party conducting the examination in accordance with its domestic laws. 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, ( 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 the disclosure of the information requested would be contrary to the public policy (ordre public) of the Requested Party. 2. This Agreement shall not impose upon a Contracting Party any obligation to provide information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the express written consent of the competent authority of the Requested Party. ARTICLE 9 SAFEGUARDS Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the Requested Party. The rights and safeguards shall not be applied by the Requested Party in a manner that unduly prevents or delays effective exchange of information. ARTICLE 10 ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS 1. Incidence of ordinary costs incurred in the course of responding to a request for information will be borne by the Requested Party. Such ordinary costs would normally cover internal administration costs and any minor external costs. 2. All other costs that are not ordinary costs are considered extraordinary costs and will be borne by the Requesting Party. Extraordinary costs include, but are not limited to, the following: ( a ) reasonable fees charged by third parties for carrying out research; ( b ) reasonable fees charged by third parties for copying documents; ( c ) reasonable costs of engaging interpreters, translators or other agreed experts; ( d ) reasonable costs of conveying documents to the Requesting Party; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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