CBDT Notifies Mutual Income Tax Information Exchange Agreement Between India and Samoa [Read Notification]

The Government of India and Government of Samoa has signed the Mutual Income Tax Information Exchange Agreement. The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT ) has notified the same vide notification no. S.O. 566(E) dated 7th February 2024.

The Agreement officially came into force on September 12th, 2023. This commencement date coincides with the later of the notifications signifying the completion of necessary procedures as required by the respective laws of both contracting states for the Agreement's entry into force, as stipulated in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 12 of the Agreement.

As per paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the Agreement, it is specified that the Agreement shall take effect immediately after its entry into force.

Therefore, exercising the authority vested by sub-section (1) of section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Government hereby notified that all provisions of the Agreement, as annexed hereto, shall be implemented and given full effect in the Union of India.

According to the agreement, the authority in the country that's asked for information must give that information when it's requested. This is for the reasons mentioned in Article 1 ( Object and Scope of the Agreement). The information should be given without considering if the country asking for it needs it for its own taxes or if what's being looked into would be considered a crime in the country being asked, if it happened there.

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 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.

This Agreement will also cover any taxes that are the same or very similar, even if they're introduced later. The authorities in both countries will inform each other about any big changes to tax laws or how information is collected. This is important because it could affect what each country needs to do under this Agreement.

To Read the full text of the Notification CLICK HERE

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