Taking comfort from Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that Singapore has with India, the former has replaced Mauritius as the top source for foreign direct investment into India accounting for about 25% of FDI inflows in 2013-14. India has inked double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Singapore that incorporates Limit-of-Benefit (L-o-B) clause that justifies the substance in Singaporean entities, brings required certainty and avoids chances of litigations.
Notably, Singapore also has emerged as top source of FDI into the country after FDI inflows from Mauritius started drying up on fears of the impact of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) and possible re-negotiation of the tax avoidance treaty.
The controversial GAAR provision, which seeks to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from April 1, 2016 in India and will be applicable to entities availing tax benefit of at least Rs 3 crore. India-Mauritius DTAA is being revised amid concerns that Mauritius is being used for round-tripping of funds into India even though that country has always maintained that there have been no concrete evidence of any such misuse. According to DIPP, India attracted FDI aggregating to $5.98 billion from Singapore as against $4.85 billion from Mauritius in the last financial year 2013-14. Notably, the inflows from Mauritius during the last fiscal were the lowest since 2006-07, while FDI inflows from Singapore was the highest ever received from the country since 2006-07. lastly, Overall FDI into India grew by 8% year-on-year to $24.3 billion in 2013-14.
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: