No invite to next OECD tax meeting

Switzerland will not receive an invitation to the next tax summit of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to be held in Berlin.

The states invited to the June 23 meeting will be the same ones who attended the previous gathering of the 30-member body, in Paris.

“It is not about excluding Switzerland,” said Jeanette Schwamberger, a finance ministry spokeswoman, on Saturday. Schwamberger said it was not clear whether there would be a possibility of Switzerland attending.

On Saturday, the director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) criticised OECD head Angel Gurría of Spain.

Jean-Daniel Gerber told the German-language Der Bund newspaper that the OECD should have taken up its dispute with Switzerland’s tax policies with the country directly before discussing the issue with third-party groups like the G20.

“I find it offensive that the OECD has created ‘beauty lists’ and these lists do not stand up to objective criteria,” Gerber said.

For his part, Gurría told the French-language Le Temps newspaper that Switzerland should not make war with the OECD. He said all states should adapt to a “new, much tougher environment”.

Gurría said Switzerland had been informed of the OECD’s agenda. He added: “We have warned that the machinery has been set in motion, that it will not stop and that a collision is imminent.”

The OECD head took a softer line on pending double taxation agreements, saying, “even if a country through its political processes has not completed an agreement, it does not mean it has been idle.”

“Let us concentrate on the big task that stands before us and the consequences of failure,” Gurría added.

swissinfo with agencies