Big bilateral initiative! US-India Tax Forum to be launched on Feb 25

It's a big bilateral initiative intended to facilitate industry players and government agencies engage on global and local tax policies. According to a latest report by news agency IANS, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) will launch the US-India Tax Forum on Tuesday (February 25).

50 tax experts from Fortune 500 companies

The forum will bring over 50 tax experts from Fortune 500 companies together with senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the GST Council and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the USISPF said in a statement on Sunday, the report added.

"The forum will meet on a regular basis with the government to share feedback on tax policy transparency and efficiency. It will also work with the government to ensure tax policy harmonization between multilateral and unilateral tax treaties," it said.

On Tuesday, USISPF, along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) will also convene the US-India Forum, a gathering of current and former Indian and US government officials and private sector leaders.

US President Donald Trump will arrive in India on Monday on a two-day visit.

USISPF President and CEO Mukesh Aghi said: "President Trump's visit will undoubtedly strengthen the commercial and strategic between the world's oldest and largest democracy. Bilateral trade has gone up 12 per cent to $160 billion 2019, indicating the strength of the commercial partnership. On the strategic side, US now conducts maximum number of military exercises with India, including 'Operation Malabar', which has increased in its scope and complexity over the years."