India seeks Swiss cooperation in tracking down ‘black’ money

India has asked Switzerland to join an 'early adopter group' for automatic exchange of information amongst the countries involved in the group over allegedly huge amounts of 'black' money, Parliament was told on Tuesday.

''The finance minister [Arun Jaitley] has wrote to the Swiss finance minister on 1 August, 2014, inviting Switzerland to join the 'early adopter group´ to the new global standards,'' minister of state for finance Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

''A request has also been made to Switzerland for entering into a competent authority agreement on automatic exchange of information as per the new global standards to enhance further cooperation between India and Switzerland in tax matters,'' she added.

She was answering a query on whether India will continue to put pressure on Switzerland to share information on alleged illegal funds stashed away by its citizen in Swiss banks in line with a global declaration.

The early adopter group comprising of 44 countries, including India, in March this year committed itself to early adoption of common reporting standard on automatic exchange of information related with tax evasion.

The countries involved in early adopter group recognise that tax evasion is a global problem and a new global standard on automatic exchange of information between tax authorities.

''It is also recognised that the initiative will provide them ability to clamp down on tax evasion, which reduces public revenues and increases burden on those who pay their taxes,'' she added.

India along with 46 other countries including the European Union states, have also adopted a Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Information in May, 2014.