The court said that mere tax evasion (not fraud) was not a reason for Switzerland to provide information to the IRS.
“Et le tribunal maintient que le fait de ne pas déclarer un compte ne constitue pas une fraude.” (The court maintains that not declaring an account does not constitute a fraud).
This is excellent news, I just hope that parliament doesn’t screw it up.
Here is the New Zurich Newspaper article on the same decision. It goes into more specific details. I don’t have time to do a manual translation from German so you’ll have to try Mr. Google. http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/amtshilfe-gestoppt_1.16381062.html
Also, here is the Bloomberg coverage for the same (in English): http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/swiss-court-rejects-disclosure-of-credit-suisse-client-s-data
@jeffersondtomas- this is good news indeed. Let’s hope that it starts a flood of similary rulings in other countries or at least gets other nations to take a second look at becoming FATCA compliant.
Reblogged this on Stop Unconstitutional Double Taxation.
Here is the New Zurich Newspaper article on the same decision. It goes into more specific details. I don’t have time to do a manual translation from German so you’ll have to try Mr. Google.
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/amtshilfe-gestoppt_1.16381062.html
Also, here is the Bloomberg coverage for the same (in English): http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/swiss-court-rejects-disclosure-of-credit-suisse-client-s-data
The first bloomberg article says:
The words “mere tax evasion” I find extremely interesting. The progressives in the world want to make tax invasion into a capital crime. It is refreshing to see it treated as a lesser crime. The fact is that everyone, everywhere, participates in it. We have a huge GST/PST/HST to underground economy in Canada, where we pay people cash to avoid paying tax. But if you put your money in an offshore account, you deserve to be thrown in prison, be fined 300% of your assets? Many of the whales in this picture are only belugas not blues.
I was once told by a American who lived in France that nobody pays all their taxes there. It would be impossible to do so. So everyone plays the game of tax evasion.
I see a Chuck Norris add for World of Warcraft under the first post on this page. I did not put it there. Is WordPress doing this to generate money?
Usually when you are not logged into WordPress there are ads. Don’t know why you are seeing an ad if you are logged in.
I can’t believe that the IRS asked for information on all US clients who did not file a W-9 with Credit Suisse in Switzerland.
Although I can understand the IRS reasoning, it takes a pretty dull bureaucracy to treat a foreign bank the same as a domestic bank.
And furthermore, to expect Swiss laws and courts to conform with US laws and courts is showing ignorance at best.
It seems that the Swiss Federal Administrative Court may have based its decision at least partially on the fact that the US Senate has not ratified the new treated ratified by the Swiss Parliament back in March.
http://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/3918963-la-decision-du-taf-sur-l-entraide-fiscale-est-mal-percue-aux-etats-unis.html