At G20, India will push for global pact to stop tax fraud
NEW DELHI: India will attempt to build consensus on an international framework for automatic sharing of infor mation to check tax evasion during the forthcoming G-20 Summit in Australia. This comes at a time the government has stepped up efforts to bring back black money stashed abroad.
New Delhi, which received $71 billion in remittances last year from Indians overseas, will also make a strong case to cut costs of transferring money. India is the world’s largest recipient of remittances, followed by China that received $60 billion in remittances in 2013.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Brisbane on November 15-16 for the summit where the world’s 20 major economies will discuss crucial issues such as firing up growth rates, infrastructure development, energy, climate change and reforming international institutions.
Suresh Prabhu, Modi’s sherpa for the summit, said on Thursday that the creation of a “proper database” that can be shared automatically would make financial transactions more transparent and help check tax evasion. A sherpa is a senior official responsible for preparing the agenda for leaders to consider during the summit.
Flagging concern over the high cost of transferring money to developing nations, Prabhu said the cost is as high as 10% of the value of remittances.
He said reducing this cost to less than 5% was a priority for New Delhi. The main economic issue at the summit would be how to increase global growth by at least two percentage points over the next five years.
Prabhu said India’s contribution to achieve the target would be significant. “China’s economy is slowing down. Our growth will be higher than theirs in 18 months.”
Prabhu said India would also use the G-20 platform to press for reform in global institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to make them “more democratic.”
India will also push for strong collective action on climate change at the summit, ahead of crucial negotiations on the issue during the Climate Change Conference in Peru in December.