Blog

22
Aug

Swiss to allow back-dated German tax inquiries

Switzerland wants to allow German authorities to make back-dated inquiries about Germans who stashed cash in secret Swiss accounts to avoid tax when a bilateral deal on tax evasion comes into force

The arrangement would allow German tax authorities to make requests dating back to 2011 about people they suspect of moving their money from Switzerland to another country before the agreement to tackle German tax dodgers hiding money in Switzerland takes effect, Focus weekly magazine said.

The Swiss parliament is due to pass a law to allow this in the coming months, the magazine said, adding it would not require any change or renegotiation to the agreement which Berne struck with Berlin in April to levy taxes on German assets in Swiss accounts.

That would make the deal more appealing to the Social Democrats (SPD), Germany’s main opposition party, who have said they would veto it in its current form. The German government needs SPD backing for it in the upper house.

finance.yahoo.com