Germany ready to buy stolen Swiss data on alleged tax evaders

Sarah Marsh and Lisa Jucca Reuters 02/01/2010 17:51

Angela Merkel has said Germany should try everything to get information on possible tax evaders.

Germany has told Switzerland it is ready to pay for data on cross-border tax cheats, dealing a fresh blow to bank secrecy laws in the Alpine nation as it struggles to break a deadlock with the U.S. tax authorities over disclosure at banking giant UBS.

Germany's warning puts a strain on an already difficult tax relationship between the two countries and comes after Berlin paid for data stolen from Alpine principality Liechtenstein's top bank, LGT, in 2008.

"Everything should be done to get this data," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin.

"We should aim to acquire this data if it is relevant (to fighting tax evasion)."

A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said this could involve paying for data of suspected tax evaders even if the information was obtained illegally.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble told his Swiss counterpart Hans-Rudolf Merz that authorities in a German state had been offered for sale data on the clients of a Swiss bank, the Swiss finance ministry said, without naming the bank.

German media said a whistleblower had offered data on up to 1,500 possible tax evaders which could yield 100 million euros ($140 million) in tax revenues.

Source

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