‘Another concession on taxes’

Published on 10 October 2013 at 11:02

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The Swiss Federal Council on October 9 authorised Switzerland’s signature of the convention between OECD countries and members of the Council of Europe on mutual assistance on tax matters, reports NZZ.

Signed by 56 countries, among other measures the convention allows for the exchange of banking information in response to a request or the spontaneous transfer of information in the event of suspicions that an account is being used for tax evasion in another jurisdiction.

Until now, Bern only shared banking information with countries that are Switzerland’s most important economic partners.
From now on, the Swiss state can also help in the fight against tax evasion in other countries, like Moldova and Ghana, which have signed the convention. According to estimates, some €360bn of undeclared money from developing countries is deposited in Swiss accounts.

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