Editorial - If Switzerland Can ... - NYTimes.com.

Another major neswpaper indicates the shift in public mood, this time quoting my work for the Tax Justice Network:

There is a growing international backlash against tax evasion. The Tax Justice Network, a research and advocacy organization, estimates there are $11.5 trillion in global assets hidden in offshore havens. In recent months, dozens of formerly uncooperative sanctuaries from Singapore to Lichtenstein have rushed to sign on to new multinational norms on information sharing.

More needs to be done. Congress should pass the tax-evasion legislation that was wrapped into the 2010 budget proposal. It would entitle the I.R.S. to demand that foreign banks doing business here disclose information about their American account holders and withhold the appropriate taxes. If they didn’t, the I.R.S. would be entitled to automatically withhold income taxes on payments into those accounts.

More international cooperation is needed to determine standards of compliance with newly devised tax information exchange agreements and police them. And pressure should be brought on recalcitrant countries like Panama. If Switzerland can be persuaded to get out of the tax haven business anyone can.

I could improve on their list. Automatic Information Exchange is notthere, for example, but the movement is in the right direction.