Swiss bank account details opened to taxman

Portuguese taxation authorities are now able to simply request details on any bank account held by a national citizen in Switzerland, Paulo Núncio, the State Secretary for Fiscal Affairs, announced this week.

This follows the signing of an agreement designed to eliminate dual taxation between the two countries but which also specifically stipulates access to Portuguese held accounts.

"Simple to request. The agreement provides for the Portuguese authorities simply requesting the information without any need to provide evidence of malpractice," said Núncio before adding that the Swiss authorities would no longer be able to invoke banking secrecy clauses to prevent such requests."

Emphasising that this would also be the very first time such information would be made available, the state secretary said the measure was part of the government’s overall anti-fraud and tax evasion strategy.

Portugal thus becomes the fifth European Union member state to secure such an information exchange agreement with Switzerland.