Blackmoney: Now I-T officials to join OECD

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) After deciding to deploy revenueservice officers at eight overseas Income Tax units, thegovernment will now depute IRS officers at the top worldeconomic body OECD to improve global cooperation in tacklingmoney laundering, tax crimes and bribery.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier this monthapproved the proposal for deputing the officials at theParis-headquartered body as advisors.

Indian tax officials will function in three broad areasof tax administration and tax crimes -- exchange of taxcrime information, transfer pricing and the global forum fortransparency and exchange of information for tax matters.

According to the Finance Ministry sources, the governmentwants these officers to liaise with tax authorities of othercountries and subsequently gain expertise to effectivelytackle the issue of blackmoney and stashing of illegal fundsin tax haven nations.

"The officers to be sent on deputation to the OECD for amaximum of three years will work on tax crimes and wouldsupport the task force on tax crimes which works towardsimproving cooperation between law and enforcement agencies,tackling money laundering and bribery," a source said.

According to the rules of the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) -- that are favourable toIndia''s position vis-a-vis fighting blackmoney -- the body"advocates exchange of information between tax authorities onrequest in cases of specific tax enquiries to better equip taxauthorities to tackle tax evasion under Article 26 of itsmodel DTAA."

The world body, established in 1961, also "provides aforum in which governments can work together to shareexperiences and seek solutions to common problems" andconsiders India to be an "emerging giant" in terms of economy.

The top economic cooperation body has 34 member nationswhich include the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italyand Switzerland. India too is vying for a place in the bod andaccording to sources, this could happen soon.

The I-T overseas units will come up in countries like theUnited States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Cyprus,Germany, France, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.