Posted by offshorepedia on Mar 10, 2011 in Featured, Offshore Banking, Switzerland | 0 comments
The Swiss banking secrecy is subject to much discussion at the moment and Switzerland is under strong pressure to change the country’s banking secrecy laws. It is easy to say that Switzerland immediately must change their banking secrecy laws since it only protect criminals around the world. But why does Switzerland have such strong bank secrecy and why was the laws in this area once created? There is almost always a good reason (well, a reason anyway) behind laws and of course the Swiss banking secrecy laws are no exception.
Switzerland itself explains that “According to the Swiss conception of democracy, citizens are not here for the State, but rather the State is here for the citizens. Citizens are not primarily taxpayers, but rather free human beings who have a right to privacy. Banking secrecy should be seen in this context. Banking secrecy protects the financial privacy of citizens from unauthorized access by other private persons or also by the State. Banking secrecy does not protect criminals, however: banking secrecy is subject to various legally defined limits.”
One could always argue about how strong secrecy laws should be but the philosophy that the citizens are not here for the State, but rather the State is here for the citizens is something that most of us will be prepared to accept even though in the practical life you have the impression that the situation is quite the opposite.
Switzerland has published a more detailed account for its bank secrecy and the country’s obligations in an international context with exchange of tax information etc. It is definitely worthwhile reading for anyone who would like to get more knowledge in the subject and the complete text can be obtained by clicking the link down below.
Swiss Banking Secrecy according to Switzerland
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Posted by offshorepedia on Mar 6, 2011 in Cyprus, Did you know that ..., Taxes | 1 comment
In a survey KPMG interviewed more than 400 tax professionals across Europe. According to the poll Cyprus was regarded as the most attractive tax regime in Europe followed by Ireland, Switzerland and Malta. The least attractive tax regime was that of neighboring Greece.
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Posted by offshorepedia on Mar 5, 2011 in Taxes | 0 comments
According to American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than 14,700 Americans have disclosed their secret foreign bank account under the amnesty program agreeing to repatriate the assets and pay back taxes and interest as well as reduced penalties. One major reason for this has without doubt been the between the IRS and the Swiss bank UBS where UBS has agreed to turn over the names of about 4,450 American clients suspected by the IRS of using the bank’s offshore services to evade taxes.
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Posted by offshorepedia on Feb 26, 2011 in In the Media, Switzerland | 0 comments
Since a couple of months ago there have been a lot of fuzz in the media regarding data with information about Germans having undeclared money in Swiss Banks Accounts. The data has been stolen from a Swiss bank and the person who has stolen the information has offered the German state to buy the information.
The German authorities did already in 2008 purchase data stolen from a bank in Lichtenstein and earlier this year the German federal government authorized the state authorities to buy the information, even though it was obtained illegally. Therefore it seemed rather obvious that the states would take the opportunity to hit hard against the tax evasion and on Friday a spokesperson for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said it now had received the information about the bank accounts bank on a CD. How much it has paid for the information was not revealed.
The case has deeply shaken Switzerland’s large private banking industry and Germans hold an estimated 200 billion euros in undeclared funds in Swiss banks. Only in the past months almost 6 000 Germans have turned themselves in to the authorities which is expected to make it possible for the German authorities to recover about 500 million euros of lost taxes.
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Posted by offshorepedia on Feb 26, 2010 in Press Releases | 0 comments
The Federal Department of Finance in Switzerland informs that today in The Hague, Switzerland and the Netherlands signed a new double taxation agreement (DTA) in the area of income tax. It will replace the existing DTA of 1951/1966. The new agreement contains namely provisions on the exchange of information in accordance with the OECD standard, which were negotiated in line with the key points decided by the Federal Council. The new DTA will contribute to the further positive development of bilateral economic relations.
Compared with the current DTA, improvements have been achieved in the area of withholding taxes: the percentage holding for withholding tax exemption for dividends has been reduced from 25% at present to 10%. Dividend payments to pension funds will also be exempt from tax in the source state in future. Furthermore, a zero rate has been agreed for interest. In addition, the new DTA contains an arbitration clause. This is used if the competent authorities are unable to reach an agreement within three years following the commencement of a mutual agreement procedure.
After negotiations finished, a report on the new DTA with the Netherlands was submitted to the cantons and the business associations concerned for their comments. The Conference of Cantonal Finance Directors and the business associations largely welcome the signing of the agreement.
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Press Release from the Federal Department of Finance in Switzerland
Original Release can be found at: http://www.efd.admin.ch/00468/index.html?msg-id=32020&lang=en
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http://www.efd.admin.ch/00468/index.html?msg-id=32020&lang=en
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