EU Warns Savings Tax Directive Could Be Delayed
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
28 May 2004

Despite having reached a hard fought deal with Switzerland concerning the adoption of the Savings Tax Directive, the European Union has warned that a lack of an agreement with other third countries may prevent the directive being implemented on time next year.

Representatives from Switzerland and the European Union last Wednesday signed nine bilateral agreements covering various topics including tax and the free movement of people, at a summit meeting in Brussels.

However, EU finance ministers are set to decide whether appropriate equivalent measures are in place in other third countries, namely Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra, and reports indicate that the prognosis is unlikely to be optimistic.

Meanwhile, a deal presented by San Marino was said to be “good, but not perfect.”

In any case, even if agreements are secured between the EU and the third countries concerning the bank information sharing directive, Swiss President Joseph Deiss has warned that the Swiss may not be ready to participate when the regime commences in January 2005, as intended, due to the fact that the new laws must go through a number of stages domestically in order to be ratified, which may include a referendum.

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