In a local Indian media interview today (Dec 21), India Finance Minister Arun Jaitley confirmed that the Singapore government is guilty of helping rich Indian nationals evade taxes in India by round-tripping and money laundering.
“Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore had become routes for round-tripping of local money going out and then coming back by these routes and therefore avoiding tax.”
The India Finance Minister said that he has already worked out tax treaty with Mauritius and Cyprus, and is currently negotiating with the Singapore government. India is currently combacting money laundering and illegally-sourced fundings, and recently made headlines when it announced that notes of denominations above RS5,000 are no longer legal tender.
“Now with Singapore we are at almost final stages of wanting to revise that. Something is likely to happen in near future.”
India is also concerned with political funding as many businessmen registered political parties to avoid tax. Other countries have also tightened up their financial regulation on money-laundering with specific policies targeting Singapore. Earlier in 2016, the Indonesia government announced tax-exemption for Indonesians who have money laundered their funds in Singapore.