EU to crack down on tax evaders

Thailand News.Net
Monday 10th March, 2008

Member governments of the European Union have decided they can no longer accept some of the unscrupulous practices of tax evaders.

The developed countries of the EU has been putting pressure on the tax havens since three weeks ago, when the German tax authorities started an investigation into the royal family owned bank of Liechtenstein.

The German government was able to receive data which disclosed evasion activities by 1,400 clients. 600 of them were German.

It is believed Germany's foreign intelligence service paid an informant around 4.2 million euros for information on the accounts of Germans who parked their money in the principality of Liechtenstein in order to evade tax.

Berlin has now decided that three tax-haven principalities, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra, have been un-cooperative.

Germany's government will now consider measures such as levies on wire transfers to the principalities or an obligation for German banks to declare such transfers.

Other countries including the US, Finland and Sweden have also opened investigations.

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