Switzerland to ease tax info exchange norms

In the case of stolen data, Swiss authorities would extend assistance on tax matters to other countries provided such information was procured through normal administrative assistance channels or from public sources.

The proposal, which has been adopted by the Swiss Federal Council, also comes at a time when India is making efforts to bring back unaccounted money stashed by its citizens overseas.

The issue of black money also figured during the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Amman earlier this week.

The Swiss government on Friday said the practices with regard to “stolen data are to be eased”.“It should become possible to respond to requests if a foreign country obtained the stolen data via normal administrative assistance channels or from public sources,” it said in a release.

However, administrative assistance is still not possible if a country actively acquired the stolen data outside of administrative assistance proceedings.

In this regard, the Federal Council on Friday adopted the dispatch on amending Tax Administrative Assistance Act.