Hasler Confirms Liechtenstein's Position On EU Savings Tax

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

23 October 2002

Speaking at a press conference held last week, Liechtenstein's head of government, Otmar Hasler confirmed the jurisdiction's support for Switzerland, announcing once again that automatic exchange of information on non-resident savings income is not an a viable option for Liechtenstein either.

'An automatic exchange of information is no option for negotiations,' he told reporters last Wednesday. Reporting on the announcement this week, the Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper pinned its hopes on the fact that 'The EU also intends to negotiate equivalent solutions with third countries, among them the USA, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein'.

However, given the European Union's rigid opposition to all of the alternative measures proposed by the Swiss government, there seems little chance of Liechtenstein being allowed to pass quietly through the net.

Separately, addressing the Basel Business Club on Thursday on the topic 'Liechtenstein - the chances of a small state in a globalised world', Mr Hasler stressed the importance of the international links that Liechtenstein has developed over the past few decades.

According to the Liechtensteiner Vaterland: 'Hasler stressed that the ongoing multilateral cooperation, the expansion and strengthening of the European Union and the membership in the EEA, at the same time maintaining the customs treaty with Switzerland, represented...a challenge and chance for Liechtenstein.'

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