ZURICH |
(Reuters) - Britain wants more favourable terms in a tax pact it agreed with Switzerland last year, officials said, piggy-backing on Germany's recent success in obtaining higher rates for untaxed money stashed away in secret Swiss accounts.
According to a note the Swiss government sent to its parliament, on April 13 London informed Berne that it wanted to alter the tax rate on legacy funds, some of which have been held in secret for decades.
Swiss finance ministry officials were in talks with their counterparts at Britain's tax office, the Swiss government said.
Switzerland has been locked in disputes with several countries - among them the United States - about wealthy citizens who have parked funds in secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes.
In a bid to preserve its tradition of banking secrecy, which underpins its financial sector, Switzerland signed withholding tax agreements with Britain and Germany last year that allow account holders to pay the tax without revealing their identities.
Yet following criticism by opposition politicians in Berlin that the terms were too lax, the Swiss and German governments inked a revised agreement with stiffer tax rates earlier this month.
Now Britain is hoping to improve on its deal, which is expected to come into force on January 1, 2013.
"The original rates agreed followed very tough negotiations. We still believe those rates were broadly at the right level," a spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said. "But it is fair to all UK taxpayers to make similar amendments in our agreement to the tax rates provided for in the (Swiss-German) agreement."
Under the existing terms, money held by British residents with Swiss banks will be subject to a levy of 19 to 34 percent.
Germany succeeded in revising its retroactive levy to a rate of 21-41 percent from a previously agreed range of 19-34 percent.
(Reporting by Catherine Bosley, Sven Egenter, Matt Falloon and Katharina Bart; Writing by Catherine Bosley)
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