The Swiss government is optimistic about finding a solution to its tax dispute with Italy, despite public attacks by Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
Speaking at a European finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Tremonti described the savings tax directive written by Switzerland as a “paper tiger”.
He said it was a “toothless instrument” that was legally worthless since it didn’t even allow for sanctions.
The government said on Thursday Tremonti’s remarks had “not been appreciated by Switzerland at all”.
In recent years Switzerland has come under pressure from its neighbours to crack down on tax dodgers and abolish its traditional banking secrecy. As a non-EU member, Switzerland has been resolutely against an automatic exchange of information.
Switzerland is keen to break the deadlock, the government said. It pointed to the fact that it has updated its policy on providing administrative assistance to countries looking for suspected tax cheats, and said it could use diplomatic channels to pursue dialogue.
If Italy fails to respond favourably to Switzerland’s offer of dialogue, the government will consider the issue again.
“All measures that are compatible with public international law” would then be examined, it said.
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
Cabinet insists on tougher banking rules
This content was published on
Presenting the bill to be submitted to parliament, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told journalists that the set of strict crisis measures was necessary because of the vital role of the banking giants UBS and Credit Suisse for the Swiss economy. The government was forced to bail out UBS at the height of the financial crisis…
This content was published on
Numerous banks, grand hotels and cotton mills were in the hands of Swiss who, at the end of the century, represented the second largest foreign community in Italy. A 16th century Roman noble, Marcantonio Altieri, wrote that the Swiss were barbarians, men not to be trusted, lacking in humanity and were the main enemies of…
This content was published on
The renewed offensive by the US tax authorities has alarmed the Swiss banking community, sparking fears of a second assault on banking secrecy and rumours regarding which banks may be next to face the music. One bank that has suffered from adverse conditions in the US is the Neue Zürcher Bank (NZB), that closed down…
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.