SWI swissinfo.ch: Tax amnesty programme turns up billions in undeclared assets

SWI swissinfo.ch
Avoiding penalties

Tax amnesty programme turns up billions in undeclared assets

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This content was published on January 21, 2018 5:06 PMJan 21, 2018 - 17:06
A bank employee uses a key to open a client safety deposit box

The NZZ am Sonntag reported that many of the newly disclosed assets are being held in accounts in Liechtenstein.
(Keystone)

According to the results of a survey published Sunday in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, CHF31.7 billion ($32.9 billion) in undeclared assets have been reported to tax authorities in Switzerland over the last eight years.

The cantons of Zurich (CHF6.9 billion), Ticino (CHF6 billion) and Geneva (CHF4.4 billion) reported the highest amounts, the German-language paper said Sunday, noting that the total figure could be higher as the survey did not include data from the cantons of Lucerne, Zug, Vaud and Appenzell Inner Rhodes.

+ Billions surface from fledgling programme

+ More Zurich tax cheats come clean as data sharing looms

Since the implementation of a Swiss tax amnesty programme in 2010, over 90,000 tax dodgers have spontaneously announced their untaxed wealth to authorities. The law allows individuals to avoid paying penalties on undeclared assets if they come forward themselves, although they still must pay back taxes and interest.

swissinfo.ch and agencies/cl
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