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| German politicians have long complained about Switzerland's strict banking secrecy |
Germany has
signed a new tax evasion treaty with Switzerland, but opposition MPs are
threatening to block it.
If
approved, the deal could bring Germany 10bn euros (£825m, $13.1bn) next year,
its finance ministry estimates.
The
agreement is the latest in a long-running dispute about German nationals who
hide taxable income in banks in neighbouring Switzerland.
It was
toughened after opposition MPs objected, but may still be voted down.
It is not
clear how much money Germans have banked in Switzerland.
The initial
agreement was held up when the German parliament's upper house asked for
stricter conditions to be imposed on tax evaders.
But
although some changes have been made, the leader of the centre-left Social
Democrats (SPD), Sigmar Gabriel, predicted: "It will fail a second time
because the SPD-led states will not go along with it."
He said it
left tax evaders too much time to move their assets to another tax haven.
"The core problem remains unsolved - that tax cheaters will get away
without punishment."
Banking
secrecy
Under the
deal, Germans who have undeclared assets in Switzerland would not face
penalties.
But they
must make a one-off payment of between 21% and 41% of their value. That is
higher than the 19-34% range initially planned.
Switzerland's
secretive banks have faced growing pressure internationally as governments try
to recover taxes in the wake of the financial crisis.
The plan
would mean that in future, Swiss authorities would calculate and transfer tax
payments due to Germany.
Switzerland
has guaranteed a minimum payment of 2bn euros, but German officials say they
expect 10bn euros or even more next year.
German authorities
would also gain wider scope to seek information on German nationals' accounts
in Switzerland.
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