Tax

India Tightens Tax Treaty Terms With Singapore

Tom Burroughes Group Editor 3 January 2017

India Tightens Tax Treaty Terms With Singapore

India has tightened the terms of a tax treaty with Singapore.

India will begin to levy capital gains tax on investments from Singapore in April, and will remove CGT exemptions in two years, media reports said, following moves by the two nations to change a treaty.

In 2016, India rolled back similar concessions to Mauritius and Cyprus, according to a report by First Post.

The changes mean investors based in Singapore will no longer benefit from tax exemptions on capital gains taxes.

The FP report said changes to the treaty with Singapore had been widely expected after India last year similarly redrafted a 33-year old tax treaty with Mauritius. The tax treaty between India and Singapore had a provision that any changes in the Mauritius treaty would automatically apply to the one with the Asian country.

The report said the tightening of such tax treaties is of a piece with India's drive to crack down on corruption.

Singapore has faced a number of challenges: last year, Indonesia started a tax amnesty programme ending in March this year. The amnesty is expected to involve repatriation of billions of dollars of assets to Indonesia from Singapore. (For more on this issue, click here.)

Register for WealthBriefingAsia today

Gain access to regular and exclusive research on the global wealth management sector along with the opportunity to attend industry events such as exclusive invites to Breakfast Briefings and Summits in the major wealth management centres and industry leading awards programmes