|
|
15 May 2008
The European Union caved into pressure from Germany yesterday and agreed to consider a clampdown on tax havens – despite opposition from Luxembourg which said it saw no reason to change current laws.
The European Commission is set to begin a lengthy process to expand current laws to prevent its citizens evading tax on the interest accumulated on offshore savings.
EU tax commissioner Laszlo Kovacs yesterday proposed an extension to the scope of the EU's directive on taxation of savings in bank accounts. Kovacs said this would be done by including trusts or foundations to the list of products already covered by existing laws, the International Herald Tribune reported.
Tax havens came under wide scrutiny of authorities in Europe afterGermany cracked down on evaders in Liechtenstein. Germany then lobbied for EU ministers to speed up planned reviews of the tax laws relating to offshore savings.The concern spread abroad, leading authorities in Australia and Germany to carry out audits and raids on their wealthiest residents.
Luxembourg, which defends banking secrecy, underlined its position yesterday. Finance minister Luc Frieden said he saw no loopholes in the current rules. He added that any changes 'would certainly need a lot of time'.
Further reading:
You may also like
Search thousands of financial jobs:
£25000 - £80000 per annum: Pro-Finance: auditors City of London ...
Search thousands of financial jobs:
Careers
Search for jobs
Click to search our database of all the latest accountancy roles
Create a profile
Click to set up your profile and let the best recruiters find you
Jobs by email
Sign up to receive regular updates with the latest roles suitable for you
Briefings
By looking at the reasons supplier statements became unfashionable, and the reasons why it is different today, this paper delves into the many benefits that can be obtained by automating the process.
Having a real and true view of your organisation’s current financial position, and having the right systems and processes in place, will ensure that you can make strong choices and are ready to capitalise on opportunities
AccountancyAgeInsight is a frequently updated resource centre for finance professionals, offering a free and easy-to-use digital library of briefings, white papers and other information resources. 
Visitor comments Add your comment
tax havens - send p45?
I am all in favour of reducing the existence of tax havens. This should only be tempered by a realistic allowance for the economic assistance we somehow have to give these places in order for them to be viable entities. E.g. for Channel Islands perhaps allowing them to 'discount' booze/fags to encourage tourism. Other than that we should be firm with all the havens we 'run', which is about 18 at last count and tell them they have to operate the same personal, corporate and capital taxes as we do in UK, or go it alone from 30.6.09!
If anyone ever costed it out, I guarantee the Channel Islands for instance do not remotely contribute a fair share to our exchequer for defence, NHS, EC dues etc?
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are a particular sore/weak point for the international tax evasion brigade as they are conveniently part of the UK banking system for transactions. Once loot is there it can then be readily stashed off away to other more secretive regimes definitely away from HMRC beady gaze e.g. Cayman or BVI etc?.
Posted by: Malcolm Swallow, Abell Morliss, 05 Feb 2009 | 00:00