Main focus of Thursday, October 23, 2008

Action against tax havens?

At a meeting of ministers of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Germany and France called for the "blacklist" of tax havens to be updated. Following Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein, Switzerland is now to be added to the list. The European press asks: Is this action against tax havens a question of morality or just a diversionary tactic?

Les Echos - France

The daily Les Echos sees the campaign against tax havens primarily as a question of morality: "Having first done away with golden parachutes, the wind of morality that has been blowing since the financial crisis is now sweeping across another totem of deregulated capitalism: tax havens. By assembling 17 allegedly model states at an international conference in Paris French Budget Minister Eric Woerth and his German colleague, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück intended above all to send a political message ... The big clean states want to mobilise support to impress the small tax havens. In this respect the absence of the United States weakens the message. Does one really have to emphasise that tax havens can only thrive alongside tax hells? Does a country that deducts 44 percent of the national income every year and in which the introduction of a tax limit at 50% of income causes a scandal really have a tax system that is beneficial for the economy?" (22/10/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » France, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Jean-Françis Pécresse

Le Quotidien - Luxembourg

The daily Le Quotidien sees the criticism of tax havens as an attempt to make Switzerland into a scapegoat for the continuting financial crisis: "We all know that in times of crisis people always look for a scapegoat ... that one can pull out of the hat to blame for the troubles of the world. And indeed France and Germany have found the answer to the question 'Who is responsible for the financial crisis?': namely, the tax havens. We are not disputing the fact that these tax havens have led the way in covering up information and have thus aggravated the financial crisis that was triggered by a lack of transparency. Yet in times of crisis a discussion about tax havens [allows] ... those states who believe themselves to be above all wrongdoing to point a finger at the states they hold responsible for all the ills of the world. And since those who are absent are always in the wrong, responsibility has been shifted to Switzerland, which Germany would like to see put on the OECD blacklist of tax havens." (22/10/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Financial Markets, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » France, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Delphine Dard

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück has attacked Switzerland's banking secrecy in order to raise additional funds for Germany's budget deficit, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: "Switzerland is an important financial centre. However, even the Swiss authorities cannot just ask for banking records when they suspect citizens of tax evasion. But Steinbrück cares little about national sovereignty when it comes to raising money for his budget, which is about to run into a huge deficit. ... The OECD's "blacklist" brings Switzerland close to the status of a banana republic. This makes it even easier to demand a comprehensive "exchange of information," the fully transparent citizen. If Switzerland falls, the EU states Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria will have to give in as well." (23/10/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Jürgen Dunsch

Corriere del Ticino - Switzerland

The daily Corriere del Ticino denounces the accusations made by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück against Switzerland as undiplomatic and offensive. (Steinbrück said the country was deliberately trying to attract German tax evaders.) It writes that Steinbrück is merely trying to divert attention from problems in his own country. "The German finance minister is obviously under great nervous strain. The wave of problems the financial crisis has brought has ... understandably affected his inner balance. But any sympathy for him has evaporated now that he has issued these hallucinatory threats to exchange the carrot for a stick. [This is] an expression that a German politician cannot afford to employ regarding a friendly neighbouring country. ... His harsh choice of words leads one to suspect that Steinbrück lacks the courage to deal with the true culprits in Germany's financial crisis and is therefore looking for a scapegoat to divert the attention of the worried public." (23/10/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Fiscal Policy, » Germany, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Luciano Barile

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