NEW DELHI (TIP): In a move aimed at combating black money stashed abroad, India signed an agreement with Switzerland today that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 1 next year, the CBDT said.

“With the completion of the parliamentary procedure in Switzerland and signing of the agreement, India and Switzerland are set for automatic exchange of information for the period beginning from January 1, 2018,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

A joint declaration for the implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information signed last month provided that both countries would start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019 onwards.

While Switzerland has conformed to the global standards on automatic exchange of information with the signing of the declaration, India, on its part, has promised to safeguard the confidentiality of the data.

“It will now be possible for India to receive from September, 2019 onwards, the financial information of accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland for 2018 and subsequent years, on an automatic basis,” the government earlier said.

Switzerland, at the centre of the debate on black money allegedly stashed by Indians, used to be known for very strong secrecy walls till a few years ago around its banking practices.