Swiss court denies Dutch request for UBS bank details
On Monday, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court ruled that no administrative assistance should be provided to Dutch tax authorities concerning “group requests” made in July 2015, following an appeal by a Dutch client of the UBS bank.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch
On July 23, 2015, the Dutch tax authorities had submitted a request to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration for UBS banking details on the basis of the double taxation treaty (DTT-NLL) that exists between Switzerland and the Netherlands since February 2010. The St. Gallen-based court viewed it as a “fishing” attempt.
“Rather than disclosing any client names in its request, the Belastingdienst [Dutch tax authorities] merely indicated the criteria for identifying the UBS clients covered by the request,” said the court statement. “The protocol to the DTT-NL clearly states that the treaty prohibits group requests that do not disclose any names.”
The court thus upheld the appeal of the Dutch citizen and denied the sharing of any details of his banking relationship with UBS with the Dutch authorities.
This decision can be appealed before the Swiss Federal Court, the highest court in the country.
Dutch authorities have been stung in recent years by claims that they have not cracked down on tax avoidance and have pledged to take more action.
Popular Stories
More
Foreign affairs
European nations snub Swiss-made weapons over Ukraine restrictions
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
Netherlands requests Dutch citizens’ Swiss bank data
This content was published on
Finance ministry spokeswoman Lindy van Galen said there was no concrete information that had led to the requests made via Swiss authorities regarding the accounts at the two banks. “If you have savings, whether in Switzerland or the Netherlands, you have to pay taxes on them,” she said. “There was no possibility of checking in…
This content was published on
The Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has received a request from Dutch authorities for information on a large number of UBS account holders living in the Netherlands as part of a tax investigation.
This content was published on
Following mounting foreign pressure, the Swiss government relaxed its banking secrecy laws in March 2009, agreeing to adopt Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards on administrative assistance in tax matters. Since then, Switzerland has renegotiated double taxation agreements (DTAs) with 42 countries containing the new international standard on exchange of tax information. But very…
This content was published on
After car-sharing and job-sharing, a new phenomenon has emerged: embassy-sharing. On Tuesday, the Swiss cabinet gave the green light for sharing embassy premises with the Netherlands and Denmark in several countries.
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.