TAX NEWS - June 2010

India Tax: Exceed direct tax target - Finance Minister

India Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday asked income tax officials to take adequate steps to prevent tax evasion and try and exceed targeted estimates for direct tax collections aided by a fast growing economy that is set to grow by 8.5 per cent this year.

"I expect that you will do your best to give me little more than ... Rs 4.30 lakh crore," he said at the conference of chief commissioners and directors general of Income Tax. Mukherjee also said India will set up eight more overseas tax units to prevent tax evasion in international transactions and trade of goods and services.

The eight countries where the overseas tax units are to come up are: France, UAE, USA, Britain, Netherlands, Japan, Cyprus and Germany.

"The development of tax shelter products and use of tax havens is another challenge which emanates from globalisation," Mukherjee said.

"In response to global challenges we have set up two income tax overseas units within Indian Missions in Singapore and Mauritius to facilitate exchange of information," the  finance minister said.