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Merz and Steinbrück agree to tax negotiations

Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and his German counterpart Pier Steinbrück have agreed to revise the double taxation agreement between the two countries.

The talks on Monday evening came on the eve of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) anti-tax haven conference in Berlin.

Merz informed the Germans that Switzerland would comply with Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. This means Switzerland will provide assistance on tax evasion cases.

Switzerland wants to seal double taxation agreements with at least 12 countries by the end of the year. It announced last week that it had come to an agreement with the United States.

The Swiss finance minister again said the country would not enter into an automatic exchange of information agreement with any country.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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