The government will set up 14 more Income Tax Overseas Units, ITOUs to deal with the menace of black money and keep a tab on illegal routing of funds from abroad and parking money in foreign countries. The Finance Ministry has recently sent a detailed proposal in this regard to the Ministry of External Affairs along with the names of the countries where these ITOUs will be made operational. India has already established ten ITOUs in its missions at Cyprus, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, UAE, UK, USA, Mauritius and Singapore.

The countries where these new ITOUs will be set up include Switzerland, an important partner country with which India has revised its Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, DTAA and the tax exchange treaty to effectively combat illegal funds stashed abroad or routed from foreign countries.

The ITOUs will obtain information on tax and financial data of investments made by individuals and institutions in these countries and facilitate exchange of data on legal investment or routing of money in the country and vice-versa.