India will soon sign the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in tax Matter to curb this menace of Black Money.

Economics Affairs Secretary R. Gopalan said in Cannes where the G-20 Summit is taking place that the tax evasion and illicit flows are serious problem and over the last two years, in order to check this trend, India has negotiated 19 new double taxation avoidance agreements and 17 new tax information exchange agreements.

He said 22 existing double taxation avoidance agreements have been renegotiated. All these 58 agreements provide for tax information exchange according to international standard.

The treaty aims at automatic exchange of information among signatory countries so that tax evasion and illicit flows can be detected early. China and Saudi Arabia also said they will join the treaty soon.

The countries including Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Russia have signed the pact while six others, including Britain and the US, had joined the convention earlier.

Speaking at the G20 summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also sought the attention of leaders on the issue of illicit money outflows and tax havens and said this problem must be addressed, and fast. The Prime Minister told the 6th G20 Summit tax evasion and illicit flows have seen the migration to tax bases in developing countries abroad and are serious problems.