India slams developed nations for tax data sharing reluctance
April 12, 2014, 5:13 pm

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, center, speaks with Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, right, and Governor of the Banque de France Christian Noyer, left, during the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) at World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, Saturday, April 12, 2014 [AP]

“Although it (taxation) is not on the agenda in this meeting, the issue of data sharing is becoming very critical for the developing countries,” said India’s Economic Secretary Arvind Mayaram in Washington.

He was speaking at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting being held during the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

“The continuing reluctance of some of the industrialised countries for parting with information under administrative assistance requests is contrary to the spirit of the move towards automatic tax information exchange,” Mayaram said.

India would like this to be considered in the next meeting so that jurisdictions are urged to do so in accordance with their treaty obligations, he added.

Mayaram said the International Industrial Working Group should look beyond the conventional solutions like Public Private Partnerships and infrastructure investment funds.

“India has ventured into new and innovative financing structures and avenues of raising capital like Infrastructure Debt Funds and Investment Business Trusts for pooled investment, which are mainly aimed at attracting investments from Pension funds and other cash-rich wealth funds,” he said.

He noted that this aspect may be discussed, including the strategy of Pension/Sovereign Funds and the experiences of other members of G20, both as investors and investees.

Mayaram said uncertainty in the credit markets is impacting the ability of infrastructure developers to raise finance for infrastructure projects and undermining confidence in private finance models.

“These ongoing liquidity issues are likely to increase financing costs associated with certain delivery models. Therefore, it is imperative that MDBs are channelled towards funding in emerging economies,” he said.

Source: Agencies