DutchNews, September 13,
2016
Photo: Depositphotos |
Switzerland’s highest court has ruled that banking group USB must forward
information about Dutch savers to the Dutch tax office, overturning a lower
court decision.
Last November, the Netherlands requested information about
Dutch nationals who had more than €1,500 in their accounts and had not answered
a letter from the Swiss authorities about potentially illicit savings.
Switzerland agreed to comply on the basis of a tax treaty between the two
countries, but one USB client went to court to have the information transfer
stopped.
The lower Swiss court ruled the agreement is too general in scope
because it does not name specific account holders. The five year old tax deal
between the Netherlands and Switzerland, the court said, is not enough grounds
for such a broad request.
However, the supreme court said on Monday the Dutch
request only required information to identify account holders, not specific
names.
The Dutch finance ministry said in a reaction it is pleased with such a
ground-breaking decision. It also means that a second request for information
sent to Credit Suisse will be honoured, the ministry is quoted as saying.
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