Facing allegations of being a facilitator for flow of black money stashed abroad by Indians back into India, the island nation said the whole criticism was only a matter of perception and had no truth in it.
Mauritius today said it has put in place all necessary checks against flow of black money and illicit funds were not being routed through it into India.
Facing allegations of being a facilitator for flow of black money stashed abroad by Indians back into India, the island nation said the whole criticism was only a matter of perception and had no truth in it.
"I completely disagree with the criticism that black money is routed through our country into India. The whole criticism is just a matter of perception," Mauritius vice-Prime Minister and minister for finance and economic development Pravind Kumar Jugnauth told PTI in Paris
He made the comments in reply to queries related to the widespread criticism that black money was being routed through Mauritius into India, on the sidelines of the global congress on combating counterfeiting and piracy in Paris
There have been reports that Indians could be using Mauritius as a route for bringing back black money into India, while taking advantage of low and friendly tax regime in the island nation located in the southwest Indian Oean.
"We have a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with India and it is doing well ... I believe that about 44% of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India is routed through Mauritius. Mechanisms are in place (to check the issue of black money)," Jugnauth said.
"We (Mauritius) have the framework to facilitate investments (into India) and through (our country) Indians can also make investments in Africa," he added.
When asked whether India is right now talking to Mauritius on any particular aspect of checking the black money flow, he said, "We always keep talking to each other..."
A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the global agency working on implementation of international standards on taxation and other matters, last month named Mauritius among countries where laws do not meet global standards.
As per OECD, "there are missing elements in the legal framework (of Mauritius) such as accounting information on some of the offshore companies.
"The assessment of the practice in Mauritius shows that there is room for improvement, in particular as regards the access to bank information by the tax authorities," it said.
OECD, in its review of Mauritius, also took note of reports expressing concern over Indian taxpayers using Mauritian business entities to round-trip profits. It, however, noted that Mauritius' Financial Services Commissions has put in place preventive measures and sanctions.
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