Hiding one's bank secrecy in European safes has become problematic
Moreover, as «Русская Германия» notes, the problem affected not so much individual tax evaders as legal entities, among which were the largest multinational corporations Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Starbucks. Tax authorities have every reason to believe that they are evading part of their taxes by registering their subsidiaries in Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The norms approved by the finance ministers of EU countries provide for the elimination of the scheme in which two companies are registered: one, for example, in Ireland, the other in an offshore jurisdiction, which allows reducing tax rates.
The agreement on exchanging information about bank clients' incomes could have been adopted back in late 2013. But Austria and Luxembourg, enjoying a dubious reputation as 'tax havens' within the EU, dug in their heels. Since all decisions in the European Union are made by consensus, the issue was postponed until better times. And now such times have come. Now banks of all EU countries will be obliged to send clients' data to the tax authorities of the country of which they are citizens. These measures are designed to ensure transparency of the entire European tax system.
When the last signature was placed under the agreement, EU Commissioner for Taxation, Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud, Lithuanian Algirdas Šemeta, did not hide his joy: 'Bank secrecy is a thing of the past,' he declared. 'It is simply wonderful that we have achieved success,' echoed German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. And Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan called the agreement reached a 'historic milestone.'
The innovation allows adding to the list of information to be exchanged among EU member states such data as dividends, profits, all forms of financial income, and funds in bank accounts. This will create the most extensive automated system in the world for exchanging information on taxable assets.
The new rules will come into force in 2016. They will supplement the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation in this area, which has been in effect since 2005. In the remaining time, a corresponding law will be finalized, which will enter into force in 2017 in all EU countries except Austria: at the request of the Austrian authorities, it will take effect there in 2018, as the country has no system of data exchange between banks and authorities at all. The matter is further complicated by the fact that the constitution of the Alpine Republic enshrines the principle of inviolability of bank secrecy. However, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling is optimistic: 'To resolve this contradiction, technical prerequisites will be created for our banks,' he said.
Other European 'tax havens' popular among tax evaders – Switzerland, Monaco and Liechtenstein – are not in the European Union. But an agreement on exchanging information about bank clients must also be signed with them. As for Ireland, its authorities promise to amend national tax legislation to prevent foreign corporations from evading taxes.