Re:It's Still Easy for Anyone to Become You at Experian
by CaptainZapp on Monday November 13, 2023 @04:37AM
(#38248545)
> As far as I am aware, Switzerland had always cooperated with law enforcement requests. Even before FATCA, if your government thought you were cheating on your taxes, all they had to do was present a warrant.
The problem was - and this rightfully pissed off a lot of countries - that Switzerland makes a distinction between tax evasion (you "forget" to mention those 5'000 franks extra income) and tax fraud, where you actually cook the books.
Tax evasion is not considered a crime and if you're caught you get fined and pay back taxes. Tax fraud is a crime and may land you ion jail.
So, in case of simple tax evasion a third country may not get the information requested since this is not a crime in both countries, which is a requirement for this.
With the automatic information exchange with other countries Switzerland is no more a prime destination to hide your illicit gains.
That said, yes, dictators and such were - and are - a problem. They aren't going to prosecute themselves, after all.
By the way, one of the top places unsavory types stash their cash is the US. FATCA is a one way street: US banks don't provide information on their international customers.