Germany wants to renegotiate a tax treaty with Switzerland, agreed in August, but the Swiss reject this.
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swissinfo.ch and agencies
The ratification process was underway, said a spokesman at the state secretariat for international financial matters, responding to a report in the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
“From our point of view there’s no need to alter the signed treaty,” said Mario Tuor, adding that the two sides were in constant contact.
A spokesman for the German finance ministry said negotiations were on-going between both countries at a high level.
In August 2010, Swiss and German negotiators reached an agreement on the tax treaty, which includes an up-front payment to Germany of SFr2 billion ($2.2 billion), ending a long-running tax evasion dispute.
The banks’ advance payment will only be reimbursed if and when the German authorities recoup enough back-taxes from Swiss accounts owed to them.
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Media hail tax deal with Germany
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But if the deal is seen as a step forward by the media, questions remain as to whether it would survive political change in Berlin and the effects it will have on the Swiss banking industry. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) called the accord a “big step forward”, even if concessions are made – referring…
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The accord, which includes an up-front payment to Germany of SFr2 billion ($2.76 billion) by Swiss banks, has been initialed and will be signed by both governments in the coming weeks. The banks’ advance payment will only be reimbursed if and when the German authorities recoup enough back-taxes from Swiss accounts owed to them. The…
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Nissan, Yahoo, Chiquita – many multinational companies are moving their European headquarters to Switzerland. Here they pay much lower corporate taxes than in other countries. The international holdings have privileges that not even Swiss firms enjoy. (SF Eco – swissinfo.ch)
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