IN an internal communication dated March 21, 2013, the CBDT Chairperson, Dr Poonam Kishore Saxena, has urged all CCITs / DGITs to pay extra attention to the Exchange of Information Manual circulated by the Board and adhere to two aspects - 1) frame quality and specific questions; and 2) stick to the timelines.

For seeking information under DTAAs, TIEAs and Multilateral Convention, field officers are required to follow the guidelines prescribed vide Instruction No 1 by the Board. But, it appears that a good number of field officers are not complying with this Instruction as they have over the years developed the habit of not complying with many other Instructions of the Board, which necessitates homework and application of acquired intelligence.

Worse, the Chairperson has also noted in her letter that in large number of cases forwarded by the Indian tax authorities for information, the foreign tax authorities have sought clarifications but their communications are not being paid any attention at all. Since foreign tax offices have been asked general questions, even if they are keen to cooperate, they are not able to help India.

Dr Saxena has also asked the DITs and CITs to provide their feedback on the effectiveness of the EoI Manual.