OECD secretary-general: German tax evasion highlights broader challenge

OECD secretary-general: German tax evasion highlights broader challenge

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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary-General Angel Gurr'a said that disclosures of alleged widespread tax evasion by wealthy German citizens through Liechtenstein highlight a broader challenge of how to deal with uncooperative tax havens.
   The OECD in 2002 published a list of seven jurisdictions that fell short of best-practice standards. Four have made commitments to work with OECD and its partners to improve transparency. But three remain on the list: Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein.
   The issue came to the fore last week when investigators raided the home and office of the now former Deutsche Post Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel.
   'This is a fundamental issue in our increasingly interdependent world,' Gurr'a said. 'As long as there are financial centers that refuse to cooperate in bilateral tax information exchange and that fail to meet international transparency standards, residents in other countries will continue to be tempted to continue to evade their tax obligations.
   'The openness of the global economy can only be sustained if participants assume mutual responsibilities, as well as sharing benefits. Excessive bank secrecy rules and a failure to exchange information on foreign tax evaders are relics of a different time and have no role to play in the relations between democratic societies,' he added.
   German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would discuss financial transparency issues with Liechtenstein’s Prime Minister Otmar Hasler, during a meeting in Berlin later this week.