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Liechtenstein tax evasion probe sweeps the globe
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Thu, Feb 28, 2008
The Straits Times
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CANBERRA - INTERNATIONAL pressure on Liechtenstein to lift the cloak of secrecy from its banks has intensified, with tax agencies across the globe widening probes into tax evasion involving accounts in the tiny European state. The latest to join the crackdown were the authorities from Australia and New Zealand. They mounted raids and audits yesterday on rich residents suspected of dodging tax through bank accounts in Liechtenstein. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said tax cheats would not be tolerated and a crackdown on the use of secretive tax havens would be 'bottom-line' business for his centre-left government. 'The tax laws of the country are there to be adhered to,' Mr Rudd told journalists after meeting his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark in Canberra. | Eight other countries - Germany, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Sweden - have obtained information about the accounts.German investigators were the first to obtain a list of clients of LGT Group, a bank in Liechtenstein owned by its royal family. The tiny country of 35,000 residents, nestled between Austria and Switzerland, has wooed wealthy investors from across the world with a promise of confidentiality, placing it on an international blacklist of taxation havens. The German authorities revealed they had paid a whistleblower for secret tax data, and the subsequent probe proved to be a Pandora's box. It forced the resignation of the Deutsche Post chief and sent many rich Germans running for cover. Liechtenstein responded with anger. 'If you listen to people...it is clear that Liechtenstein is bubbling with rage, boiling over,' Liechtensteiner Vaterland editor Gunther Fritz told The Times of London. 'We can't be treated like this.' Later, Britain and the Netherlands joined Germany in probing secret accounts of their respective residents, while the US said it was investigating more than 100 American taxpayers suspected of using Liechtenstein to hide their wealth. Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo said his office had carried out raids and issued taxation notices to 20 Australian clients of LGT Group. Calling for tax dodgers to reveal themselves to avoid harsh penalties from any audit, Mr D'Ascenzo said ATO estimates that A$5 billion (S$6.6 billion) leaves Australia each year for tax-haven nations. New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department said it had identified fewer than a dozen people using Liechtenstein, and the amount of tax involved was under NZ$2 million (S$2.3 million). The authorities in Australia and New Zealand have also been keeping an eye on several Pacific nations, including Nauru, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu, which have previously drawn the attention of international tax investigators. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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