CBDT, Ministry to exchange tax data of corporates

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Stepping up action against shell companies, the income tax department has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) for sharing of tax-related data of corporates -- which will be used for further scrutiny and prosecution.

"It will enable sharing of specific information such as Permanent Account Number (PAN) data in respect of corporates, Income Tax Returns of corporates, financial statements filed with the registrar by corporates, returns of allotment of shares, audit reports and statements of financial transactions received from banks relating to corporates," the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The information shared will pertain to both Indian corporates as well as foreign corporates operating in India.

"In addition to regular exchange of data, CBDT and MCA will also exchange with each other, on request, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out scrutiny, inspection, investigation and prosecution," it said.

"Taking forward the initiative launched by the government to curb the menace of shell companies, money laundering and black money in the country and prevent misuse of corporate structure by shell companies for various illegal purposes, the MCA and CBDT have now concluded a formal MoU for data exchange on September 6," the statement said.

The MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between Central Bureau of Direct Taxes and MCA on an automatic and regular basis. The memorandum of understanding comes into force from the date it was signed.

A Data Exchange Steering Group also has been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the two agencies.

The MoU will ensure that both MCA and CBDT have seamless PAN-CIN (Corporate Identity Number) and PAN-DIN (Director Identity Number) linkage for regulatory purposes.

"It is an ongoing initiative of MCA and CBDT, which are already collaborating for near real time allotment of PAN and TAN also at the time of incorporation of companies itself," it said.

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