The Liechtenstein deal: What the papers say

With the Liechtenstein/UK tax information exchange agreement hitting the BBC news on TV last night, there was no doubt that the papers would hit the topic hard this morning – in turn giving tax professionals some column inches.

The Daily Mail took a pretty straight line on the story, with KPMG's tax partner Paul Harrison telling the paper that the leniency of the deal, which allows disclosure of evaded tax until 2015, was because the scheme 'has got to work so they [the government] need to build in some real incentives'.

The Guardian suggested the deal could pave the way for a similar scheme with Switzerland. And Deloitte head of tax policy Bill Dodwell, described the Liechtenstein deal in the paper as 'landmark'.

The Times said that the deal would be followed today with he decision by the courts on whether HM Revenue & Customs would be allowed to access the accounts of UK citizens held in foreign banks with branches in the UK.

Jay Krause, a partner at international law firm Withers LLP, told the Telegraph there was nowhere to run for tax evaders: 'Individuals who bet that they can continue to avoid detection are betting against the house. The time to come clean is now.'

The FT's Lex column said the deal was the taxman's best hope of improving tax collection. 'Progress indeed: until now, the most obvious thing they shared was the tune for their national anthems,' Lex added.

Further reading:

Liechtenstein reaction: tax agreements are ineffective

Historic Liechtenstein tax deal branded 'unfair'