Blog

15
Apr

Switzerland cannot afford more compromise in tax rows

Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has said Switzerland cannot make further concessions to Germany and the United States in a row over untaxed funds

She said the status quo would be a better option if the German parliament refused to accept the amended agreement signed by both countries last week.

The revised deal which includes higher tax rates designed to regularise untaxed funds held by German residents in undeclared Swiss bank accounts.

However, German opposition parties have vowed to reject the treaty.

In an interview in Friday’s edition of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper, Widmer-Schlumpf said the same was true for talks with Washington.

“There is a threshold beyond which we cannot go as a sovereign state,” she said.

She added that Switzerland still hoped to reach a solution with the US later this year.

source:swissinfo.ch