The reform of the banking system and taxation of deposit accounts, which had been prepared for several years, was finally adopted after heated debates. From January 1 of next year, banks and investment companies of the European Union will be obliged to exchange information about foreign depositors. Thus, the tax authorities of each of the 15 EU countries will gain access to information about the accounts of their citizens, and they will duly pay taxes on these deposits as required by national law. It is also prohibited to open anonymous deposits.
However, three EU countries - Luxembourg, Belgium, and Austria - managed to postpone the farewell to tradition. Their banking systems are designed to attract time deposits from abroad: tax evasion that does not constitute tax fraud is not considered a crime in these countries. The three states were the main opponents of the decision at the finance ministers' meeting, and they managed to defend their position.
Nevertheless, in January 2004, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Austria will begin to levy income tax on deposit interest at a rate of 15%, which makes it pointless to open accounts in these countries solely for hiding income. From 2007, the tax rate will rise to 20%, and from 2009 to 35%. The collected taxes will not remain entirely at the disposal of the country where the bank is located: two-thirds of the payments received will be transferred to the state whose citizen owns the bank account.
However, the secrecy of depositors' names and addresses will persist in Europe until Switzerland abandons it. It is this country (which, as is known, is not in the EU) that became the main argument for Belgium, Austria, and Luxembourg: the EU will abolish secrecy, and all money will flow to Switzerland, which is not yet planning to abandon banking secrecy, the birthplace of which it is. All attempts by the European Union to obtain from Bern the provision of confidential information about deposits of EU citizens have so far not yielded positive results. However, the Swiss have already stated their readiness to discuss the introduction of taxes similar to those that will be levied in Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The main thing is that such measures do not put Swiss banks at a disadvantage. After all, this country holds a third of all private deposits in the world.