New data-sharing rules aren't without pitfalls for clients of Swiss banks, as authorities race to shut loopholes, Bank Reyl lawyer Drazen Turujlija told finews.com-TV.
Switzerland is set to begin exchanging data with other countries from next year, a move which has fundamentally shifted the dynamic in Switzerland's trillion-Swiss franc offshore banking industry.
The alpine nation is acceding to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) desire to shake out tax cheats. But the standard that OECD members have agreed on will leave some wanting because it was set in record time, Banque Reyl & Cie wealth and tax planner Drazen Turujlija told finews.com-TV (see below).
«It is not perfect, and nobody pretends it is – not even the OECD,» Turujlija said.
Filling Loopholes
One popular scheme is for wealthy clients to feign foreign residency through tax residency certificates in order to avoid exchanging data.
In fact, the supranational body has already moved to shut several loopholes – even before all its members have adopted the standard. With the residence loophole, the OECD is preparing to require that all domiciles from in the last ten years be considered as current.
«The consequence of this is that the information will be exchanged with all of these countries,» Turujlija says.
