The Narendra Modi government today issued clarification that GAAR, that is General Anti-Avoidance Rule, will come into effect from April 1, 2017. The General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) provisions shall be effective from the Assessment Year 2018-19 onwards, i.e. Financial Year 2017-18 onwards, the Finance Ministry said in a press release.
It has been clarified that if the jurisdiction of FPI is finalized based on non-tax commercial considerations and the main purpose of the arrangement is not to obtain tax benefit, GAAR will not apply.