(A picture of Swiss National)March 1, 2010
S. Korea-Swiss Agree on Exchange of Financial Information
South Korean tax-evaders’ money deposits in Swiss secret bank accounts will now be partially reported.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) official said on March 1, "Talks between South Korea and Switzerland on the exchange of financial information have been finalized. Specific measurements of the agreement are being negotiated."
If the regulation is enforced, the South Korean government will be entitled to view Swiss bank accounts of suspicious South Korean tax-evaders but only in the case when the account history is obtained directly from the doubted tax-dodgers.
In other words, this means that the government is not granted full rights to inspect all Swiss bank account history of the nation’s tax evaders. That is, the rule will be applicable only when money transfers into Swiss bank accounts is captured by the government during its money flow tracing process.
In the South Korea-Switzerland tax treaty signed in 1981, no regulation of exchanging financial information is included. Therefore, it is currently impossible to levy taxes on the rich with hidden assets in Swiss banks.
Switzerland is now establishing such regulations with the U.S., England, major OECD member countries along with South Korea. These are follow-up measures of the results laid out at the London G20 Summit last April. At the summit, strong warnings were given to countries known for as tax havens and financial information exchange evaders.
http://news.mk.co.kr/english/newsRead.php?sc=30800006&cm=English%20News_&year=2010&no=105463&selFlag=sc&relatedcode=&wonNo=&sID=308
related article ~
G20 Nations to Take Counter Measures Against Tax Havens from March 2010
