Swiss finance minister expects deal on German tax evasion to succeed
September 17, 2012
RECORDER REPORT
Switzerland's finance minister is confident a deal to tax German assets stashed in the country will go ahead, despite calls by Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) to scupper the agreement because it is too lax in tackling tax evaders.
Switzerland and Germany hammered out a new deal in April to confront tax evasion, but SPD members have said they will block it in the upper house of parliament.
"I still think that we can manage it. But it will be difficult," the minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, told the Sonntag newspaper in an interview.
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble are campaigning for the cause and holding lots of talks." Schaeuble told the German lower house of parliament last week that he thinks the deal is as good as it can get.
Merkel and Schaueble hope the SPD-led states will ultimately cave in, lured by the prospects of billions of euros in much-needed cash.
Copyright Reuters, 2012
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