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French Push Evasion To Top Of EU Agenda
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f421342e-a44a-11e2-ac77-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2QpMoS3Ng By Peter Spiegel in Brussels ©AFP With Paris still reeling from revelations the budget minister charged with tackling tax evasion held €600,000 in a secret Swiss bank account, the French finance minister foisted the issue on to the EU’s agenda on Saturday, calling on his counterparts to share more data on accounts held by foreigners in their domestic banks. Pierre Moscovici, speaking at a high-profile meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin, said European bank secrecy rules were outdated and that Europe should help set new international standards that are currently being negotiated on a bilateral basis with the US. “At the present time, the situation calls for a more efficient, for a stronger, for a faster reply,” Mr Moscovici said at a hastily-called press conference the night before Saturday’s meeting. “Political will is strong in France and we are more resolute than ever.” The rushed nature of the initiative was highlighted by the unexpected appearance of Algirdas Semeta, the EU tax commissioner, who flew to Dublin at the 11th hour to help broker a deal on EU anti-tax evasion legislation that has been awaiting action for nearly five years. “It’s a bit of a surprise, but a very nice one, to be here in Dublin today,” Mr Semeta told reporters. EU officials estimate countries lose about €1tn every year in tax revenues due to evasion. Mr Moscovici and his German, British, Italian and Spanish counterparts agreed last week to begin a “pilot” project to share information on foreign EU nationals with accounts in their country based on the same kinds of exchanges recently agreed with the US as part of Washington’s new Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Five other countries agreed to participate in the scheme at the Dublin meeting, including Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. But an EU-wide deal to widen its regime along US lines was held up by Austria, which has refused to sign up to the long-delayed proposal by the European Commission, arguing it would infringe on the country’s data protection laws. Luxembourg, the only other holdout, agreed to participate last week. “We will fight for bank secrecy. We are no tax haven,” said Maria Fekter, the Austrian finance minister. Earlier, Ms Fekter lashed out at the UK, saying that persistent use of the Channel Islands as well as overseas territories like the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands as tax havens should be part of the discussion, calling Britain “the island of the blessed for tax evasion and money laundering”. George Osborne, the British finance minister, said the Channel Islands recently signed agreements to provide information on account holders as part of the US negotiations and said London was in “advanced discussions” with the overseas territories on similar exchanges. The extent to which the French scandal – in which Jérome Cahuzac, a junior finance minister, was forced to resign after acknowledging he had lied for months about the existence of his secret Swiss bank account – has moved tax evasion to the top of the EU agenda was made clear Friday, when Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, unexpectedly announced the topic would discussed at next month’s EU summit. In an interview, Poland’s Jacek Rostowski, who was the first finance minister in Dublin to join the five big EU countries in the “pilot” project, insisted the recent momentum was not about the French scandal and instead about ensuring fairness at a time taxpayers in many EU countries are suffering through tough austerity and reform efforts. “I must say the thought never even crossed my mind,” Mr Rostowski said of the French controversy. Approval ratings for François Hollande, the French president, have plummeted to historical lows in the wake of the scandal, prompting him to call for the eradication of tax havens and launch a campaign against fraud. Despite the Austrian objections, Mr Semeta said he expected an EU-wide agreement “within weeks”, putting pressure on Irish officials, who as holders of the EU’s rotating presidency must now attempt to find a compromise between all 27 EU members before next month’s summit. Continue reading
Germany And France Back European Tax Deal
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bea8b704-a120-11e2-990c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2QpLM98JN By Madison Marriage Germany and France have thrown their weight behind the adoption of a framework that would facilitate the automatic exchange of tax information across Europe. The two countries are expected to publish a common position on a proposal to adopt an EU version of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act as they attempt to fight tax evasion following high-profile scandals. This comes as Sven Giegold, the outspoken German MEP, plans to lobby the European Commission to adopt a directive that would bring a Fatca-style agreement into European law. Fatca, which will be implemented in 2014, will require asset managers and other European financial groups to pass details of US clients to tax authorities, resulting in higher reporting costs. German and French finance ministers have said they are ready to put in place similar measures. Pierre Moscovici, the French finance minister, and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble issued statements on April 7 calling for greater tax information sharing across Europe in a move that would closely imitate Fatca. It followed an admission on April 2 by Jérôme Cahuzac, French budget minister, to lying repeatedly when he denied holding a secret Swiss bank account. Mr Cahuzac said he held €600,000 offshore, although reports in the Swiss press suggest the sum was as high as €15m. Mr Moscovici said in an interview with a French radio station that he proposed developing a “European Fatca” with automatic exchange of information. “In the next few days [France and Germany] will adopt a common stance to ensure we make real progress with this endeavour,” he said. Mr Schäuble also told the newspaper Saarbrücker Zeitung that Germany welcomes “every step towards” the automatic transfer of information. He added that the German government is collaborating with other countries on this. At the same time, Mr Giegold’s Green party will also propose a Fatca-style tax package to the Commission. The measures, including the automatic exchange of information between European member states, will be designed to curtail tax evasion by wealthy Europeans. The package will require non-EU financial institutions to provide European tax authorities with information on EU taxpayers’ earnings, which would “exert pressure on tax havens”, the Green party said in a statement. Mr Giegold, who won notoriety through his controversial bonus-cap proposal under Ucits V, says: “To ensure that our financial system respects national tax laws, we need a European Fatca now.” He believes Germany and France should take the initiative and lead a coalition of countries that are willing to take action. Florian van Megen, a tax policy researcher at the European Parliament and parliamentary assistant to Mr Giegold, says the Commission is already “seriously” considering adopting such an agreement. “The [Commission] has seen the US do it without waiting for anyone else – why not catch the same train?” he says. “If Fatca seems to work and compliance seems to be possible, it makes sense to have a similar international framework.” The proposed European tax package would go further than Fatca. Under Fatca, details of all US clients with assets over $50,000 must be passed to the US Internal Revenue Service. European groups in Fatca-partnering jurisdictions can meet their Fatca obligations with their local tax authorities. Several Fatca agreements have already been reached by European member states and the US, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. Luxembourg is yet to broker a Fatca agreement with the US but it is said to be close to completing one. Luc Frieden, Luxembourg’s finance minister, recently said his country was ready to extend its collaboration with tax authorities abroad and would no longer reject the idea of an automatic exchange of information between countries. Keith Lawson, senior counsel in tax law at ICI Global, the international fund association, says it is unlikely a European Fatca-style agreement would increase costs for fund groups in Europe. He says: “If firms are already implementing procedures to identify the tax residency of investors under Fatca, it will be easy enough to [comply with a European equivalent]. “There would be no additional burden other than coding the account as UK, Spanish or German, as opposed to a US investor. “There may be some additional costs but these would not be overwhelming.” Last year the head of BNP Paribas’ investment solutions division said the cost of compliance with Fatca would reach €100m. This article first appeared in Ignites Europe, an FT publication Continue reading
3 Bedroom Villa For Sale Lake Geneva
3 Bedroom Villa Messery A Modern Luxury 3 bedroom Villa Messery minutes from Lake Leman and the Swiss border. Close to village of Messery in a very prestigio… Continue reading
