Italy’s Monti Opens Door To Bilateral Tax Treaty With Switzerland

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Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti has signaled willingness to open negotiations with Switzerland for a bilateral tax treaty similar to those agreed between Switzerland and Germany, Britain and Austria.

However Monti qualified his remarks by saying that an agreement would only be possible once canton Ticino agrees to lift a freeze on the tax-at-source revenues of cross-border workers that would normally go to Italy.

Canton Ticino imposed the freeze last June as a way of pressuring the Swiss government to renegotiate the existing agreement with Italy governing taxation of cross-border workers. It was also angry that Italy had maintained Switzerland on its black list of tax havens, making it harder for Swiss firms to do business in Italy.

Monti said “if there are positive signals” from Ticino that it is ready to lift its freeze on Italian workers’ taxes, he is prepared to “reconsider the entire matter” of a bilateral tax treaty with Switzerland.

The comments represent a change in position for Monti, who has previously refused to entertain the prospect of a bilateral tax treaty with Switzerland. However in recent days he has come under increasing pressure from most Italian political parties who wish to open negotiations with Switzerland.

A spokesperson for the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters said Swiss authorities were in contact with their Italian counterparts.

SwissInfo

swissinfo is an enterprise of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to inform Swiss living abroad about events in their homeland and to raise awareness of Switzerland in other countries. swissinfo achieves this through its nine-language internet news and information platform.

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