Almost two-thirds of Swiss are against the abolition of banking secrecy, according to a survey commissioned by Le Matin Dimanche and the SonntagsZeitung newspapers.
This content was published on
1 minute
However, the majority of those questioned said they would be in favour of scrapping the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion.
When asked whether banking secrecy should be abolished, 36 per cent said “no” and 26 per cent said “rather no”. The strongest defenders of banking secrecy were in the 15 to 34 age group.
The automatic exchange of information with foreign tax authorities was rejected by 55 per cent of those surveyed.
The scrapping of the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion for foreign account holders, as set out in the double taxation agreements signed by the government, was supported by 67 per cent of respondents.
A 55 per cent majority were also in favour of applying the same rules to Swiss citizens.
Up to now, Switzerland has succeeded in safeguarding the distinction it created between tax evasion, a civil offence, and tax fraud, a criminal one. The principle of secrecy stands in civil cases but is waived in instances in which authorities suspect a crime has occurred.
The survey of some 600 people was carried out by the institute Isopublic between February 11 and 13, with a margin of error of 4 per cent.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Germany tempted by stolen bank data
This content was published on
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday Germany should do everything in its power to obtain data to fight tax evasion, adding that every reasonable person knows that tax evasion needs to be investigated. “If the data is relevant, we must get possession of it.” However, she said that the first thing to do was to…
This content was published on
Commentators wrote that Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and the Swiss cabinet have little room to negotiate with the country’s largest single trading partner. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this week that Germany would do what it could to fight tax evasion. An unknown informant has offered to sell data on some 1,500 bank clients…
This content was published on
Speculation is most rife about whether the government will give in to pressure from European Union countries and agree to the automatic exchange of bank customer details. “The question is whether there could be different variants of an automatic exchange of information,” said Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz after a cabinet meeting earlier this week. His…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.