Switzerland, the world's biggest centre for managing offshore wealth, has begun automatically sharing client data with tax authorities in dozens of other countries.
The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) said on FridayExternal link it had for the first time exchanged financial account data at the end of September under global standards that aim to crack down on tax cheats.
“Identification, account and financial information is exchanged, including name, address, state of residence and tax identification number, as well as information concerning the reporting financial institution, account balance and capital income,” the FTA said. “The exchanged information allows the [local] tax authorities to verify whether taxpayers have correctly declared their financial accounts abroad in their tax returns.”
Countries involved
The initial exchange was supposed to be with European Union countries plus nine other jurisdictions: Australia, Canada, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, Norway and South Korea.
“Cyprus and Romania are currently excluded as they do not yet meet the international requirements on confidentiality and data security,” the FTA said.
Transmission of data to Australia and France was delayed “as these states could not yet deliver data to the FTA due to technical reasons”, it said, adding that it also had not yet received data from Croatia, Estonia and Poland.
Exchange
Around 7,000 banks, trusts, insurers and other financial institutions registered with the FTA collected data on millions of accounts and sent it on the Swiss tax agency. The FTA in turn sent information on around two million accounts to partner states. It said it could not provide any information on the amount of financial assets.
The annual data swap will expand next year to about 80 partner states, provided they meet requirements on confidentiality and data security. The OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes reviews states’ implementation of the accord.
Under international pressure, Swiss banking secrecy has weakened for years, meaning the well-off can no longer hide wealth in Swiss institutions. The changes have put Switzerland in fierce competition with faster-growing centres like Hong Kong and Singapore.
Is reforming the Swiss pension system still possible, and if so, how?
Solutions still need to be found to meet the challenge of an ageing population and to improve the pensions of low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women.
Switzerland to step up humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Syria
This content was published on
The Swiss government decided to allocate an additional CHF7 million to the two countries in response to the escalating violence in the Middle East.
Report exposes widespread hygiene issues in Swiss hospitals
This content was published on
A Swissmedic report found that nearly all of the 25 Swiss hospitals inspected had issues with disinfecting, sterilising and packaging of medical products.
Swiss bank Mirabaud closes brokerage unit due to poor performance
This content was published on
The move spanning the bank’s global operations means a loss of 17 jobs, including five each in Switzerland and the UK, and seven in Spain.
Guterres condemns Israel’s plan to label UNRWA a terrorist organisation
This content was published on
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken out against a law proposed by the Israeli parliament that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organisation.
This content was published on
The Swiss federal technology institute ETH Zurich is the best university in continental Europe, according to the Times Higher Education ranking.
This content was published on
The Senate voted on Tuesday to keep New Zealand on a list of countries with which Switzerland will practice the Automatic Exchange of Information.
Swiss bank data exchange deal stumbles in parliament
This content was published on
Switzerland has already signed what is known as the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) treaty that requires it to automatically exchange tax information with certain countries. This means that Swiss banks will pass the details of foreign clients to the Swiss tax office, which will then pass this data on to countries it has signed an…
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.