tiea agreement between belize and india

No. 81] Income and Business Tax 1

BELIZE:

STATUTORY INSTRUMENT

No. 81 of 2013____________

ORDER made by the Minister of Finance in exercise ofthe powers conferred upon him by section 95A of theIncome and Business Tax Act, Chapter 55 of Laws ofBelize, Revised Edition 2000-2003, as amended by theIncome and Business Tax (Amendment) Act, 2009 (No. 6 of2009), and all other powers thereunto him enabling.

(Gazetted 26th September, 2013.)

WHEREAS, section 95A(1) of the Income and BusinessTax Act, Chapter 55 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition2000-2003, as amended by the Income and Business Tax(Amendment) Act, 2009 (No. 6 of 2009) [hereinafter referredto as “the Act”] provides that the Minister [of Finance] mayenter into Tax Information Exchange Agreements with thegovernment of any country or territory outside Belize witha view to applying international standards on transparencyand effective exchange of information relating to tax matters;

AND WHEREAS, subsection (2) of section 95A of theAct further provides that every such agreement as aforesaidshall be incorporated in an Order which shall be publishedin the Gazette as a statutory instrument, and upon suchpublication, the Order shall have the force of law in Belizenotwithstanding anything in this or any other enactment, andthe restrictions contained in section 4 of the Act on thedisclosure of information shall not apply with respect to arequest for information pursuant to such agreement;

AND WHEREAS, the Minister of Finance has enteredinto a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with theGovernment of the Republic of India,

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ordered asfollows:-

1. This Order may be cited as the

TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE AGREEMENT(BELIZE/INDIA) ORDER, 2013.

2. In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires-

“Agreement” means the Agreement between theGovernment of Belize and the Government of the Republicof India for the Exchange of Information with respect toTaxes, signed on the 18th September, 2013, as set out in theSchedule hereto;

“authorised representative” of the Minister means theFinancial Secretary;

“competent authority” means, in the case of Belize, theMinister of Finance or the Financial Secretary; and in thecase of India, the Finance Minister, Government of India, orits authorised representative;

“days’ means calendar days;

“IFS Practitioner” means any person or entity licensed bythe International Financial Services Commission to carry onthe business of ‘international financial services’ as that termis defined in section 2 of the International Financial ServicesCommission Act;

“financial institution” means a bank or financial institutionas defined in the Domestic Banks and Financial Institutions

2 Income and Business Tax [No. 81

Short title.

Interpretation.

CAP. 272.

Schedule.

No. 11 of 2012.

Act or the International Banking Act, and includes brokeragefirms and insurance companies;

“Minister” means the Minister of Finance;

“reporting entity” shall have the meaning assigned to it insection 2 of the Money Laundering and Terrorism(Prevention) Act, 2008;

“service provider” has the meaning assigned to it in theTrust and Company Service Providers (Best Practices)Regulations;

“supervisory authority” shall have the meaning assignedto it in section 2 of the Money Laundering and Terrorism(Prevention) Act, 2008;

3. For the purpose of complying with a request forinformation pursuant to the Agreement, the FinancialSecretary shall have power to obtain and provide all suchinformation, including (without limitation):

(a) information held by banks, other financialinstitutions, and any person acting in any agencyor fiduciary capacity including nominees andtrustees;

(b) information regarding the ownership ofcompanies, partnerships, trusts and foundationsincluding ownership information on all suchpersons in an ownership chain; in the case oftrusts, information on settlors, trustees,beneficiaries and protectors; and in the case offoundations, information on founders, membersof the foundation council and beneficiaries.

S.I. 37/2007

No. 18/2008.

Power of theFinancialSecretary toobtain andprovideinformation.

CAP. 267.

No. 18/2008.


4. (1) Where the Financial Secretary is satisfied that arequest for information from the competent authority ofIndia falls within the terms of the Agreement, he may underhis hand require any bank, financial institution, reportingentity, supervisory authority, IFS Practitioner, Trust Agent,Registered Agent of International Business Companies,Foundations or International Limited Liability Companies,Service Providers, Registrar of (local) Companies, Registrarof International Business Companies, Registrars of domesticand International Trusts, Registrar of Foundations, Registrarof Limited Liability Partnerships, Registrar of InternationalLimited Liability Companies, Supervisor of (domestic)Insurance, Supervisor of International Insurance, taxingauthority, public statutory corporations, public officers, orany other person, who the Financial Secretary believes mayhave relevant information, to furnish such information orproduce such document as may be required to comply withthe request for information.

(2) Every person who is required by the FinancialSecretary to provide information or produce documentspursuant to this Order shall provide the requisite informationor documents as soon as possible but no later than thirty (30)days from the date of the request for information.

(3) Every person who refuses or fails to supply suchinformation or documents to the Financial Secretary, orwilfully supplies false or misleading information, shall beguilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary convictionto a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or toimprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to bothsuch fine and term of imprisonment.

(4) No restrictions on the disclosure of informationcontained in any other law shall apply to a request forinformation pursuant to the Agreement and no suit forbreach of confidentiality or other such action shall lie againstany person who discloses information, produces documents

Duty to supplyinformation tothe FinancialSecretary.


or renders other assistance in compliance with a request forinformation under this Order.

5. This Order shall come into force on the 1st day ofDecember, 2013.

MADE by the Minister of Finance this 26th day ofSeptember, 2013.

Commencement.

(DEAN O. BARROW)Minister of Finance


tiea agreement between belize and india

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