FE Editorial : Taxpayer-friendly GAAR

Given how the rupee’s strength very largely depends on what happens to FII and FDI flows—half of FDI and two thirds of FII come through Mauritius and Singapore—it’s not surprising the finance minister has accepted most of the Parthasarathi Shome committee recommendations on toning down General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) that sought to put too many powers in the hand of the taxman by allowing him to reinterpret transactions with very little independent oversight. If the rupee continues to be under pressure despite record FII inflows—$24.4 billion in calendar 2012 as compared to minus $0.4 billion in 2011—imagine where it would be if FII/FDI flows were to dry up. And dry up they would given how the budget allowed the taxman to look at whether inflows through treaty-countries like Mauritius or Singapore were ‘lacking in commercial substance’ and whether they were structured to help avoid taxes. So, apart from putting off GAAR by two more years, to April 2016, during which period the taxman is to get trained in the finer aspects of international taxation, the ministry has clarified both Mauritius and Singapore investments are protected till the treaties are not renegotiated.

It is disappointing that the finance ministry has not clarified its mind on taxation of Vodafone-type transactions and on the budget’s retrospective amendment of the law—this is likely to have got stuck due to the exceptionally poor tax collections. For what it’s worth, the short note issued by the ministry along with the detailed

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