Offshore properties may face scrutiny

Real estate assets hidden abroad may come under scrutiny after a global framework of real-time data sharing by national authorities takes effect, marking the next frontier in governments’ efforts to combat tax evasion and money laundering.

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) report to the leaders of G20 nations at the New Delhi summit has made proposals with far-reaching implications for tax compliance related to overseas property holdings. The recommendations were made at the request of the Indian presidency.

OECD cautioned that cross-border real estate holdings have risen, and proposed short- and long-term models for tax transparency on such assets held abroad. One of the models is the traditional data-sharing approach. OECD also called for a second “more novel direct access-based model". It is based on the “interconnection of digitalized ownership registers accessible to designated relevant government agencies on a real-time basis."