瑞士：不再做免税资产的避风港
Switzerland Says No Longer a Haven for Untaxed Assets
来源：天和网
核心提示：瑞士代表就新税收条约与欧洲和美国沟通时表示：瑞士已经决心摆脱“免税资产避风港”的称号。
Switzerland is determined to shed its reputation of a harbor for untaxed assets, the country's top negotiator on new tax treaties with European and . authorities said Friday, just days and weeks ahead of the possible implementation on new tax agreements with the . and Germany.
天和网天和税政频道消息：星期五，瑞士最高的谈判代表就新的税收条约与欧洲和美国当局进行沟通时表示：瑞士已经决心摆脱"该国是免费资产避风港"的"荣誉称号"。瑞士与美国和德国的新税收协议在几天之内甚至几周里就有可能开始执行。
"Our view is that everyone has to pay taxes, its one of the few certainties in life, and that privacy can't be used to further tax evasion," Michael Ambuehl, head of the Swiss Secretariat for International Financial Matters, said at a banking conference in Zurich.
在苏黎世举行的一次银行业大会上，国际金融事务机构在瑞士的秘书处负责人Michael Ambuehl表示： "我们的观点是,每个人都必须要缴纳税收,这也是我们生活中必须要做的几件事之一。人们不能再利用隐私权以进一步逃避缴纳税收。"
The Alpine country has signed tax agreements with several countries, and is negotiating with others in the face of pressure to stop allowing foreigners to use its bank secrecy laws to evade taxes after UBS AG (UBS), the nation's biggest lender by assets, in 2009 admitted wrongdoing in helping Americans hide money from tax authorities.
这个"阿尔卑斯山之国"——瑞士已经与几个国家签署了类似的税收协议,并与其他国协商：停止允许外国人使用其银行保密法进行逃税。此前该国资产最大的银行——瑞银集团(UBS),在2009年承认帮助美国人从税务机关逃税的行为是错误的。
UBS agreed to disclose the names of more than 4,500 . account holders and paid a $780 million fine. Thousands of Americans, not all of whom had accounts with UBS, have since voluntarily disclosed their accounts under two . tax amnesties.
瑞银银行已经同意披露4500多名美国账户持有人的姓名，并决定支付亿美元的罚款。成千上万的美国人,并不是所有在瑞银银行拥有账户的人, 在两次美国税务赦免的措施中已经主动公布自己的账户。
"We respect the right of countries to gather tax from their citizens, as well as the right of individual privacy," Mr. Ambuehl said.
"我们尊重各个国家拥有从其公民收集税收的权利,同时也会尊重个人隐私权利,"Ambuehl表示。
Switzerland has reached deals with the . , and Austria to retroactively tax assets hidden on Swiss bank accounts, and ensure tax on such assets will be paid in the future.
瑞士已经与英国和奥地利达成协议，并追查隐藏在瑞士银行账户里的税收资产,并确保将来会支付这些资产税。
The Swiss negotiated a similar treaty with Germany, but whether it will come into force next year is still in doubt. The deal is threatened by a veto in the upper house of Germany's parliament, dominated by parties opposed to Angela Merkel's ruling coalition who consider the terms of the treaty too lenient on tax evaders. The vote will take place Nov. 23.
瑞士也与德国达成了类似的协议,但它是否将于明年生效仍是不确定的。这笔交易受到德国议会上议院的否决。德国上议院是由反对默克尔领导的执政联盟的政党组成的。默克尔政党认为该项条约条款对于逃税者来说太仁慈了。此次投票将于11月23日举行。
Gaining their backing has become even harder after it emerged last week that employees of UBS' German unit are under investigation by local prosecutors on suspicion that they assisted bank clients in evading German taxes for nearly a decade.
这次投票要获得他们的支持是更加困难的。因为上周瑞士银行的德国分行的员工正在接受当地检察官的调查。他们被怀疑近十年来一直在协助德国的银行客户进行逃税。
Regardless of the outcome of the German vote, Bern has started formal negotiations with the Italian and Greek governments and is holding exploratory talks with several other unnamed countries.
无论德国投票的结果如何,瑞士政府已经开始与意大利和希腊政府进行正式谈判，并和几个其它一些国家举行了试探性会谈。
The so-called witholding tax agreements are the preferred option for Switzerland, rather than the automatic exchange of bank data, according to Mr. Ambuehl.
根据Ambuehl的分析，这种所谓的预扣税收协议对于瑞士来说是最佳办法,而不是简单的自动交换银行的数据。
"We don't want to ban the exchange of certain bank information, but we want an alternative, like the witholding tax model," Mr. Ambuehl said.
"我们不想禁止某些银行交换信息,但我们想要换一种形式,比如"预扣税收式,"Ambuehl表示。
Switzerland also aims to soon sign a bilateral agreement with Washington to implement tax reporting requirements under a new . law aimed at preventing offshore tax evasion.
瑞士也想尽快与华盛顿签署一个双边协议，按照美国新的法律要求进行税务报告，旨在防止海外逃税。
Under this new law foreign banks are required to identify Americans among their clients and to provide their financial data to the . Internal Revenue Service.
按照这个新的法律，外国银行必须在他们的客户认真鉴定美国人信息,并向美国国税局提供他们的财务数据。
Swiss banks haven't greeted the new law with enthusiasm because its implementation requires massive investment in IT infrastructure and staff to ensure compliance. But seeing that there is no way around it, they have urged Berne to sign it sooner rather than later.
瑞士银行还没有热情的迎接新的法律,因为在IT基础设施上需要大规模的投资和人员来确保稳定。但我们没有办法避开它,他们还敦促伯尔尼尽早签署该协议。
The . in September became the first country to agree to the law known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
在9月份,英国成为同意该项法律律第一个国家,该项法律被称为"外国账户纳税法案"。
译者：曹静伟
【原创稿件声明】此文由天和网原创，未经授权，任何媒体和个人不得全部或部分转载。如需转载，请与010-52880596联系；经许可后转载务必请注明出处，并添加源链接，违者本网必将依法追究法律责任。
PAGE
PAGE 2
