Direct Tax Avoidance Agreements

USA – FATCA

Article 4

Application of FATCA to Indian Financial Institutions

1. Treatment of Reporting Indian Financial Institutions. Each Reporting Indian Financial Institution shall be treated as complying with, and not subject to withholding under, section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code if India complies with its obligations under Articles 2 and 3 of this Agreement with respect to such Reporting Indian Financial Institution, and the Reporting Indian Financial Institution:

a) identifies U.S. Reportable Accounts and reports annually to the Indian Competent Authority the information required to be reported in subparagraph 2(a) of Article 2 of this Agreement in the time and manner described in Article 3 of this Agreement;

b) for each of 2015 and 2016, reports annually to the Indian Competent Authority the name of each Nonparticipating Financial Institution to which it has made payments and the aggregate amount of such payments;

c) complies with the applicable registration requirements on the IRS FATCA registration website;

d) to the extent that a Reporting Indian Financial Institution is (i) acting as a qualified intermediary (for purposes of section 1441 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code) that has elected to assume primary withholding responsibility under chapter 3 of subtitle A of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, (ii) a foreign partnership that has elected to act as a withholding foreign partnership (for purposes of both sections 1441 and 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code), or (iii) a foreign trust that has elected to act as a withholding foreign trust (for purposes of both sections 1441 and 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code), withholds 30 percent of any U.S. Source Withholdable Payment to any Nonparticipating Financial Institution; and

e) in the case of a Reporting Indian Financial Institution that is not described in subparagraph 1(d) of this Article and that makes a payment of, or acts as an intermediary with respect to, a U.S. Source Withholdable Payment to any Nonparticipating Financial Institution, the Reporting Indian Financial Institution provides to any immediate payor of such U.S. Source Withholdable Payment the information required for withholding and reporting to occur with respect to such payment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Reporting Indian Financial Institution with respect to which the conditions of this paragraph 1 are not satisfied shall not be subject to withholding under section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code unless such Reporting Indian Financial Institution is treated by the IRS as a Nonparticipating Financial Institution pursuant to subparagraph 2(b) of Article 5 of this Agreement.

2. Suspension of Rules Relating to Recalcitrant Accounts. The United States shall not require a Reporting Indian Financial Institution to withhold tax under section 1471 or 1472 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code with respect to an account held by a recalcitrant account holder (as defined in section 1471(d)(6) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code), or to close such account, if the U.S. Competent Authority receives the information set forth in subparagraph 2(a) of Article 2 of this Agreement, subject to the provisions of Article 3 of this Agreement, with respect to such account.

3. Specific Treatment of Indian Retirement Plans. The United States shall treat as deemed-compliant FFIs or exempt beneficial owners, as appropriate, for purposes of sections 1471 and 1472 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Indian retirement plans described in Annex II. For this purpose, an Indian retirement plan includes an Entity established or located in, and regulated by, India, or a predetermined contractual or legal arrangement, operated to provide pension or retirement benefits or earn income for providing such benefits under the laws of India and regulated with respect to contributions, distributions, reporting, sponsorship, and taxation.

4. Identification and Treatment of Other Deemed-Compliant FFIs and Exempt Beneficial Owners. The United States shall treat each Non-Reporting Indian Financial Institution as a deemed-compliant FFI or as an exempt beneficial owner, as appropriate, for purposes of section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

5. Special Rules Regarding Related Entities and Branches That Are Nonparticipating Financial Institutions. If an Indian Financial Institution, that otherwise meets the requirements described in paragraph 1 of this Article or is described in paragraph 3 or 4 of this Article, has a Related Entity or branch that operates in a jurisdiction that prevents such Related Entity or branch from fulfilling the requirements of a participating FFI or deemed-compliant FFI for purposes of section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code or has a Related Entity or branch that is treated as a Nonparticipating Financial Institution solely due to the expiration of the transitional rule for limited FFIs and limited branches under relevant U.S. Treasury Regulations, such Indian Financial Institution shall continue to be in compliance with the terms of this Agreement and shall continue to be treated as a deemed-compliant FFI or exempt beneficial owner, as appropriate, for purposes of section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, provided that:

a) the Indian Financial Institution treats each such Related Entity or branch as a separate Nonparticipating Financial Institution for purposes of all the reporting and withholding requirements of this Agreement and each such Related Entity or branch identifies itself to withholding agents as a Nonparticipating Financial Institution;

b) each such Related Entity or branch identifies its U.S. accounts and reports the information with respect to those accounts as required under section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code to the extent permitted under the relevant laws pertaining to the Related Entity or branch; and

c) such Related Entity or branch does not specifically solicit U.S. accounts held by persons that are not resident in the jurisdiction where such Related Entity or branch is located or accounts held by Nonparticipating Financial Institutions that are not established in the jurisdiction where such Related Entity or branch is located, and such Related Entity or branch is not used by the Indian Financial Institution or any other Related Entity to circumvent the obligations under this Agreement or under section 1471 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, as appropriate.

6. Coordination of Timing. Notwithstanding paragraphs 3 and 5 of Article 3 of this Agreement:

a) India shall not be obligated to obtain and exchange information with respect to a calendar year that is prior to the calendar year with respect to which similar information is required to be reported to the IRS by participating FFIs pursuant to relevant U.S. Treasury Regulations;

b) India shall not be obligated to begin exchanging information prior to the date by which participating FFIs are required to report similar information to the IRS under relevant U.S. Treasury Regulations;

c) the United States shall not be obligated to obtain and exchange information with respect to a calendar year that is prior to the first calendar year with respect to which India is required to obtain and exchange information; and

d) the United States shall not be obligated to begin exchanging information prior to the date by which India is required to begin exchanging information.

7. Coordination of Definitions with U.S. Treasury Regulations. Notwithstanding Article 1 of this Agreement and the definitions provided in the Annexes to this Agreement, in implementing this Agreement, India may use, and may permit Indian Financial Institutions to use, a definition in relevant U.S. Treasury Regulations in lieu of a corresponding definition in this Agreement, provided that such application would not frustrate the purposes of this Agreement.