Switzerland has signed its second double taxation agreement, with Luxembourg. - swissinfo.
Switzerland on Tuesday signed a revised double taxation agreement with Luxembourg, easing the restrictions on the exchange of tax information between the two countries.
It is the second of 12 such agreements Switzerland needs to sign in order to be removed from the "grey list" of tax havens established in April by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Wow, Switzerland and Luxembourg counts for the OECD
What next? The BVI and San Marino?
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Richard,
Your comment (or, more appropriate, cheap irony) about Switzerland’s renegotiation of Double-Taxation Agreements would carry more weight if Switzerland was only negotiating DTAs with mini-countries.
Had you read my comment to your blog on this matter on Aug. 9 (http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2009/08/09/the-farce-of-the-oecd-tax-haven-standard/), you would have noticed that Switzerland has already re-negotiated DTAs with :
– Austria,
– Denmark,
– Finland,
– France,
– Japan,
– Luxembourg,
– Mexico,
– Netherlands,
– Norway,
– Poland,
– Qatar,
– United Kingdom,
– United States.
This list consists of serious and influential countries (unless you consider the UK, US, France or Japan as ‘BVI-San Marino’ countries).
If you want to check the source of my country listing, you get as a bonus a quick lecture into constitutional law-making in Switzerland : http://www.efd.admin.ch/aktuell/medieninformation/00462/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=28643
Best
Bernard
It has only signed Denmark
My comment was pertinent
And where are the DTAs with countries that need informatio from Swiss banks, like Nigeria? Or India?
Richard
In any event 12 countries is a joke. That’s about 5% of the countries…
Mark and Richard,
You might be interested to learn Switzerland already has DTAs in force with … 73 countries !
(see http://www.dievolkswirtschaft.ch/de/editions/200906/Kunz.html , either in German or French)
Best to both
Bernard
No it hasn’t
None of them are OECD compliant
Richard,
Please check before contradicting.
Switzerland does have that many DTAs (see full listing, as of Jan. 1,2009, on http://www.estv.admin.ch/intsteuerrecht/themen/00170/00784/index.html?lang=de , in German).
As to their compliance, all those DTAs (including with many LDCs) have met the agreement of their country counterparts. The Swiss army was not used to force those countries into signing them.
Interesting to know that the recent agreement between the USA, Switzerland and UBS was decided on the basis of the existing DTA between Switzerland and America, signed in 1996.
Best
Bernard
But these do not include acceptable information exchange clauses
So they are useless
I don’t need to research this – it’s why the OECD ignores these DTAs
So please get your facts right
Richard
Who needs the OECD? It’s just a NGO of the most war mongering nation in the world that soon will be broke anyway. Who has the right to put a country like Switzerland on any grey list? The US? How rediculous.
Switzerland and many other countries are free nations. They can do whatever they deem necessary and if countries like the US, the UK, Germany and alike would have a fair taxation, they wouldn’t have to set up such a police state to hunt people down to pay even more taxes.
I will issue a black list too soon and I will dictate to the US what they need to do to get off it.
John What a load of hysterical nonsense! Where do I start? Yes, Switzerland can do what it likes and so can the UK and US and if that means they decide to impose some sort of sanction on Switzerland, then why not. As you yourself say, they can do what they deem necessary.
What do you mean by a fair system anyway? There will always be people who feel hard done by. You appear to believe that the wealthiest who are supposed to pay more tax in western nations are hard done by! What a joke! And we do not have a police state, especially as regards tax. I am as hostile as anyone to the identity cards, but I have never heard even their most vehement defenders suggest they will help to put tax evaders behind bars.
Please make sure I am on your black list. I will be disappointed if I am not on it!