Friday, 27 November, 2009

Government makes a U-turn on double taxation

Could Swiss democracy slow efforts to remove its “tax haven” stain? Initially the Federal Cabinet had said only the first of the new “double tax” agreements with other nations would be subject to a popular vote of approval. But today it changed course, saying the public should vote on all the agreements negotiated by Bern to open up banking transparency. The decision was always, ultimately, up to parliament but the change of tack from the Government has raised a few eyebrows. WRS’s Conor Lennon spoke with Georg Lutz, the project director of Swiss electoral studies at Lausanne’s Centre for Electoral Studies, asking what he thinks of the announcement:

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