A prominent Indian diaspora body known as the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) on Monday, 25 April, urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to allow non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCI) card holders to invest in the Indian stock markets.
FIIDS members claim that the move would provide a big boost to the Indian economy as investment from the global Indian community would flow in.
Citing a survey, the diaspora organisation submitted a report to Nirmala Sitharaman, which claimed that 88 per cent of the Indian Diaspora community supported the move.
The finance minister was also urged to expand the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to avoid the filing of the taxes in the US on the income (with some restrictions) taxed (filed) in India.
"This will avoid a need to file taxes in two places on investment and get credit on the taxes filled in the other country," the US-based institute said, as reported by PTI.
It also asked Sitharaman to initiate an agreement with the Biden administration on social security.
"Those Indian H1/b expatriates potentially lose the Social Security number (SSN) withheld on their income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Hence, we request to establish a social security agreement (SSA) with the United States. This question received 4 out of 5 ratings in the survey (80 per cent)," PTI quoted the FIIDS as stating.
Sitharaman was in the US to attend the annual Spring meeting of International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
(With inputs from PTI)
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