India has blamed Switzerland for not honouring the terms of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two nations, under which information about Indians with accounts in Swiss banks has been sought by the tax authorities.
In a letter to Swiss finance minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf, Indian finance minister P. Chidambaram wrote: "Switzerland’s refusal to provide information to India and other countries on the grounds that the source of information requested is based on ‘stolen data’ means Switzerland still believes in bank secrecy."
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The finance minister also reminded Schlumpf of the April 2009 declaration adopted by G20 leaders which stated that the "era of bank secrecy is over."
Chidambaram warned that India may examine steps like declaring Switzerland a non-cooperative jurisdiction and may be forced to take a position against it in the global fora such as G20 if the European nation does not share information at the earliest on black money parked by Indians in its banks.
India reportedly wanted Switzerland to provide information on bank accounts held by Indians that were part of an HSBC bank list of 700 Indians that the French government provided to India last year. The 700 Indians are reported to be holding HSBC accounts in Geneva.
Confirming the development, a Swiss government spokesperson told news agency PTI from Bern: "We have received a letter from India’s finance minister. He will receive an answer soon."
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By GlobalDataCyprus was declared as a notified jurisdiction last year for its failure to effectively exchange information with India.
