Sam Leung, managing director of Fidinam R&T Consulting Limited, said the deal struck on August 24, and a similar one made between Switzerland and Germany earlier in the month, would allow taxpayers to keep their money deposited in Switzerland in compliance with UK and German tax law.
witzerland represents even more today than in the past a safe harbor for bank deposits, Mr Leung said when asked if the move should be cause for concern to Chinese clients. he stability of the country, the high quality of services, the proverbial confidentiality of the professional operators and the strength of the local currency are real plusses in the financial market that only few countries in the world can grant nowadays. /p>
Indeed, while the UK-Swiss deal does allow UK authorities to claim unpaid tax from Swiss accounts, the identities and details of the account holders will not be revealed by Swiss banks, maintaining client confidentiality and leading many commentators to see it as a win for the Swiss camp.
When asked about the possibility of China coming to a similar agreement with Switzerland, Mr Leung said: "Although the Chinese government is getting tougher with regards to offshore jurisdictions, Switzerland has a very good relationship with the Chinese government."
The Swiss Bankers Association said it had an verall positive assessment of the deal. he bilateral treaty gives clients of banks in Switzerland who are taxable in the UK a path to tax compliance while maintaining their financial privacy, the association said in a press release.
The UK Treasury described the move as n historic agreement with Switzerland to tackle offshore tax evasion, and said it would esolve the long-standing abuse of Swiss banking secrecy by those who seek to conceal the proceeds of tax evasion. /p>
Expected to come into effect in 2013, the agreement could see up to GBP 5 billion ($8.12 billion) of unpaid UK taxes repatriated from Swiss-based bank accounts. Existing funds held by UK taxpayers in Switzerland will be subject to a one-off deduction of between 19% and 34% to settle past tax liabilities.
Those who have already paid taxes on their liable account holdings will be unaffected.
Swiss banks will also make an up-front payment to the UK Treasury of CHF 500 million ($632.87 million).
From 2013, a new withholding tax of 48% on investment income and 27% on gains will be levied on UK residents with funds in Swiss bank accounts. A new information sharing system will also be put in place to make it easier for UK authorities to get information on Swiss accounts held by UK taxpayers. However, the personal identities of the account holders will not be shared.
