TMI BlogAgreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Belize for the Exchange of Information with respect to taxesX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ferred by section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) , the Central Government hereby directs that all the provisions of said agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Belize for the exchange of information with respect to taxes as set out in the Annexure hereto, shall be given effect to in the Union of India with effect from the date of entry into force of said agreement i.e. , the 25th day of November, 2013. ANNEXURE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Belize, desiring to facilitate the exchange of information 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 determin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ze Constitution, including the territorial waters and any other area in the sea and in the air within which Belize, in accordance with international law, exercises sovereign rights or its jurisdiction; ( c ) the term "Contracting Party" means India or Belize 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 Belize, the Minister of Finance or his 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 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 b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ich 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; 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 9 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 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te 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; ( d ) the tax purpose for which the information is sought; ( e ) grounds for believing that the information requested is present in the requested Party or is in the possession or control of a person within 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 requested information; ( g ) a statement that the request is in conformity with the laws and administrative practices of the requesting Party, that if the requested information was 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 requesting Party or in the no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nation and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to the conduct of the tax examination shall be made by the Party conducting the examination. 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; or ( 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 disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public) of the requested Party. 2 . This Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation: ( i ) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, provided that information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5 shall not be treated as such a secret or trade proces ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tify each other in writing, through diplomatic channels, of the completion of the procedures required by the respective laws for the entry into force of this Agreement. 2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the later of the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and shall thereupon have effect forthwith. ARTICLE 11 TERMINATION 1 . This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Contracting Party. 2. Either Contracting Party may, after the expiry of five years from the date of its entry into force, terminate the Agreement by serving a written notice of termination to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels. 3 . Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Contracting Party. All requests received up to the effective date of termination shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement. In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement. DONE in duplicate at Belmopan this 18 day of Sept. 2013, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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