OECD praises Swiss tax efforts

Switzerland has been commended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for its efforts to meet global banking transparency standards.

A meeting of the OECD in Mexico took note of the progress made by Switzerland to meet standards for cooperation on tax matters, namely that it had initialled 14 double taxation agreements and signed four of them.

The agreements all conform to Article 26 of the OECD’s Model Tax Convention, which creates an obligation for countries to share relevant data for tax enforcement. Switzerland needs to sign 12 such accords to be removed from the “grey list” of uncooperative tax havens drawn up by the OECD in April.

Switzerland has made exemplary progress towards improving cooperation and has translated its intentions into action, said OECD secretary-general José Ángel Gurría.

The OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information met in Mexico to discuss tax matters and voted to put in place a global monitoring and review process to ensure that members implement their commitments. It also agreed to expand its membership and to enshrine the principle that all members enjoy equal footing.

Gurría told the meeting: “By addressing the challenges posed by the dark side of the tax world, the campaign for global tax transparency is in full flow.”

swissinfo.ch and agencies