Switzerland May Allow Group Requests of German Taxpayers

In the result of a compromise with Germany regarding bilateral tax deal Switzerland now may to allow group requests for information for tax matters. 

According to Focus magazine this is a step forward for ratification of the agreement aimed to resolve the issue of undeclared assets held by German taxpayers in Swiss banks’ account. This compromise will allow German tax authorities to obtain not only the names of German residents having bank accounts in Switzerland now, but also the information of any German citizen who relocated their assets from Switzerland abroad before the tax agreement’s entry into force. German tax authority also may be allowed to forward the request regarding groups of taxpayers.

Swiss parliament intends to pass the relevant law this autumn in order to amend national legislation by the moment of tax deal entry into force. With the tax deal ratification by Germany a longstanding conflict between two countries on banking secrecy issue would be resolved.