Senior officials of the OECD will meet top Finance Ministry officials here on Wednesday to hold bilateral talks on how to take forward the action that was set out in the recently concluded G20 Cannes Summit.
Discussions could include the progress made by India in extending their tax agreements further with bank secrecy jurisdictions and how the country was gearing up to take advantage of the more transparent environment created by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for tax purposes, Mr Jeffery Owens, Director, Centre for Tax Policy & Administration , OECD, told Business Line here.
The G20 leaders had in the Cannes Summit not only focused on how to restart the global economy and how to avoid another financial crisis, but also discussed steps for tackling offshore tax evasion, Mr Owens pointed out.
At Cannes, there was much discussion on how to translate the 700 information exchange agreements signed in the last three years into effective instruments to counter offshore evasion. These agreements provide framework within which tax authorities can request information from their foreign counterparts that they need to prosecute cases.
Mr Owens highlighted that a country survey by the OECD showed how on a conservative estimate €14 billion of extra revenue have been collected from more than 100,000 wealthy taxpayers hiding their assets offshore. Stating that tackling offshore tax evasion takes time, Mr Owens felt that countries like India will in future find it easier to track down Indian residents that have in the past felt safe to hide their money overseas.
He also released a new OECD report – titled ‘Divided We Stand: Why Inequality keeps rising' –analysing trends in rising income inequality and its causes.
There has been a significant increase in inequality across OECD, he noted. In BRICS, inequality has increased despite the strong economic growth seen in these countries. “All this shows that it is not enough to have growth, you need to have inclusive growth,” Mr Owens said.