Brussels, 24/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - Switzerland has initialled revised bilateral tax agreements with 12 countries applying OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) rules on the exchange of tax information. The agreements now need to be signed by the 12 countries before the OECD can remove Switzerland from its “grey list” of countries that have promised to meet OECD rules but have not yet complied with them. Swiss media suggest this second phase will take between three and six months to complete. The 12 countries that have initialled revised tax agreements with Switzerland are Austria, Denmark, the United States, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom. Only eight EU member states are involved at this stage. Belgium (see EUROPE 9946) and Luxembourg (see EUROPE 8926) have been removed from the OECD's grey list. Austria is the only remaining EU member state on the grey list.
The European Commission asked the Council of Ministers at the end of June 2009 for a negotiating mandate for anti-tax fraud deals with four countries (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland) that incorporate exchange of tax information in line with OECD rules (see EUROPE 9928). The conclusion of these deals will pave the way for ending the deduction at source mechanism currently applied by these four countries and three member states (Austria, Belgium until 1 January 2010, and Luxembourg) under EU savings tax Directive 2003/48/EC. The United States will also have to sign an agreement with the EU on the exchange of tax information. (M.B./transl.fl)