OECD says Italy-Swiss treaty helps end bank secrecy -update2

Pact on information exchange in tax treatment

Paris, February 25 – An important tax treaty signed between Italy and Switzerland is evidence of the “change of a crucial paradigm,” in banking secrecy with global implications, Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the center for tax policy and administration at the OECD told ANSA Wednesday. The treaty, signed Monday, increases sharing of tax information between the two countries and is expected to help Italy track down tax evaders. Tax evasion in Italy costs some 90 billion euros per year and Switzerland is a top haven. Indeed, that international reputation has caused enough embarrassment for Switzerland that it has signed on to an OECD pact that will initiate automatic tax sharing information between member nations in 2018. Repatriating assets has been one strategy Rome has employed to try to get some money back. The Italian government said last month that its capital repatriation plan will continue until September, representing “the last chance to come into compliance” with tax authorities without facing penalties.