Switzerland has issued arrest warrants for three German civil servants, accusing them of industrial espionage for buying the bank details of German tax evaders, the finance ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said on Saturday.
Switzerland seeks arrest of German tax collectors
Hope their never on a flight that needs to make an unscheduled landing in Geneva or Zurich.
Move over James Bond, the world will be full of tax spies soon.
Income-Tax sleuths to be posted in offshore havens to track evaders
Sounds like a pretty dangerous job if you ask me. I don’t think most tax collectors are made of the right stuff for this.
Serves the Germans right. They still think of Europe as ”THEIRS” (you know…as in the ”Führer” theirs). I laugh every time I see fictive German cop shows on TV in which they imagine that they are running criminal investigations in Sweden and Norway, for example. The Germans have no idea how hated they really are in Europe and how much they stick out.
Reblogged this on Stop Unconstitutional Double Taxation.
Switzerland should indite IRS officials who are trying to harrass people into paying excessive fines.
@Jefferson
Actually, the Swiss have a law called Article 271 that makes it a crime for foreign officials to conduct investigations on Swiss soil. I would guess that this is what is being applied in this case, but I am no lawyer.
Interestingly, this article will be violated by FATCA compliance. Under FATCA, IRS agents will enter banks and review their records to confirm compliance.
Let’s hope our RCMP are similarly motivated and observant …
I wonder if bank officials can be arrested under some obscure law, if they comply under FATCA … consider the possibilities. If a complaint is needed to trigger such an arrest or indictment, I’m sure there are many folks on this site would be delighted to oblige, if and when the time comes.
I’m not holding my breath that our government or the Mounties would be quite as militant as the Swiss are in this case, but one can dream, can’t one?
@zuludogm You are right. I agree that FATCA would violate these laws as well.
Here is a discussion of Art 271,273 Swiss Penal Code: http://www.amcham.ch/members_interests/p_business_ch.asp?s=2&c=14
Department of State seems to be aware of this and the Hague Conventions on the matter: http://bern.usembassy.gov/obtaining_evidence.html