Swiss halt tax talks due to Italian raids
Source: Agencies |
November 2, 2009, Monday
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SWITZERLAND, angered by Italian raids on Swiss bank branches, has hit back by halting talks on a new double taxation agreement, Swiss Finance Minster Hans-Rudolf Merz said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.
"The (tax) agreement was ready to be ratified from our side," Merz told the weekly paper Sonntagsblick. "But now the negotiations will be stopped until further notice."
Rome launched a tax amnesty this month to recover billions of euros illegally held in foreign tax havens, and raised the pressure by ordering raids last Tuesday on 76 Swiss bank branches in Italy, sparking a diplomatic row.
Merz said the police raids had "criminalized" the Swiss legal system. "What is happening in Italy is clearly of discriminatory character."
Authorities in the Swiss frontier town of Chiasso asked Swiss citizens to report any suspected Italian tax agents crossing the border.
Merz, who also holds the ceremonial role of Swiss president this year, told Sonntagsblick Switzerland would not negotiate a deal under pressure, and added that he had no plans for now to travel to Rome to talk to his Italian colleague Giulio Tremonti.
"I wait now to see how Mr Tremonti reacts," Merz said. "We do not want to escalate the situation, but we are preparing potential measures," he said, without giving details.
Swiss banks - especially in the Southern Swiss canton of Ticino which borders Italy - are worried they may lose billions of euros in clients' money through the tax amnesty.
"The (tax) agreement was ready to be ratified from our side," Merz told the weekly paper Sonntagsblick. "But now the negotiations will be stopped until further notice."
Rome launched a tax amnesty this month to recover billions of euros illegally held in foreign tax havens, and raised the pressure by ordering raids last Tuesday on 76 Swiss bank branches in Italy, sparking a diplomatic row.
Merz said the police raids had "criminalized" the Swiss legal system. "What is happening in Italy is clearly of discriminatory character."
Authorities in the Swiss frontier town of Chiasso asked Swiss citizens to report any suspected Italian tax agents crossing the border.
Merz, who also holds the ceremonial role of Swiss president this year, told Sonntagsblick Switzerland would not negotiate a deal under pressure, and added that he had no plans for now to travel to Rome to talk to his Italian colleague Giulio Tremonti.
"I wait now to see how Mr Tremonti reacts," Merz said. "We do not want to escalate the situation, but we are preparing potential measures," he said, without giving details.
Swiss banks - especially in the Southern Swiss canton of Ticino which borders Italy - are worried they may lose billions of euros in clients' money through the tax amnesty.
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