Bern opposes revisions on German tax accord
Germany wants to renegotiate a tax treaty with Switzerland, agreed in August, but the Swiss reject this.
The ratification process was underway, said a spokesman at the state secretariat for international financial matters, responding to a report in the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
“From our point of view there’s no need to alter the signed treaty,” said Mario Tuor, adding that the two sides were in constant contact.
A spokesman for the German finance ministry said negotiations were on-going between both countries at a high level.
In August 2010, Swiss and German negotiators reached an agreement on the tax treaty, which includes an up-front payment to Germany of SFr2 billion ($2.2 billion), ending a long-running tax evasion dispute.
The banks’ advance payment will only be reimbursed if and when the German authorities recoup enough back-taxes from Swiss accounts owed to them.
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