Good level of cooperation with India on tax matters: Malta
New Delhi, Nov 26 - India and Malta enjoy a "good level" of cooperation in tax matters and information exchange will happen on the basis of bilateral treaty, according to the Maltese government, amid names of various Indian entities cropping up in the Paradise Papers expose. Names of hundreds of entities linked to India have come out in the Paradise Papers leak and some of them are suspected to have offshore investments in Malta. When contacted, a Maltese government spokesperson said Malta and India already enjoy a good level of cooperation in tax matters. "Malta undertakes to honour its obligations under any treaty that provides for exchange of information on tax matters and to which Malta and India are a party to," the spokesperson told PTI in an e-mailed statement. The response came to a query on whether the country would be willing to share information about alleged instances of tax evasion related to Indian entities named in the Paradise Papers expose. India and Malta have an agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, as per information available on the Income Tax Department website. Over 700 Indian names, including those of politicians, corporates and celebrities, have figured in the leaked Paradise Papers detailing business dealings in offshore tax havens. The Paradise Papers was an investigation into offshore and banking assets carried out by the Indian Express with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). PTI
