Switzerland does not need to consider an automatic exchange of information with tax authorities in the European Union, its president said in a newspaper interview.
Switzerland and Austria have come under even more pressure to abandon bank secrecy after Luxembourg accepted to reveal information on EU depositors from 2015. The EU wants to establish this practice as a standard to crack down on tax evasion.
Asked whether Switzerland still has a choice in this matter, Ueli Maurer told Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche: “Of course! It is a dangerous moment for Switzerland but, unlike Luxembourg, we are not a member of the EU, we comply with OECD standards. There is no reason to change our strategy now.”
Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf hinted in several interviews this weekend Switzerland may have to consider an automatic exchange of information if it wants to end its long-standing tax evasion conflict with the EU.
Detailed news link: click here
Link to interview (in French): La Suisse n’a aucune raison de changer de stratégie fiscale (translated in English: click here)