States agrees tax information swap

Finance ministers and tax chiefs from 51 countries signed an agreement yesterday to automatically swap tax information, which Germany’s finance minister said heralded the end of tax evasion via secret bank accounts.

“Let’s make a joint contribution to more transparency and fairness in our globalised 21st century,” Wolfgang Schäuble told a taxation conference of about 100 countries co-ordinated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The pledge from so many countries is the result of years of OECD efforts to facilitate tax authorities’ access to bank data.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said the taxation deal should “help to recover the trust the public today has lost” during the global financial crisis and economic downturn.