Financial Regulatory Forum

By Daniel Flynn

ROME, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Italians have declared 95 billion euros ($136.7 billion) held illegally overseas under a tax amnesty, topping original government forecasts and providing a boost to Italy’s banking system.

The Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday around 98 percent of the money declared under the amnesty had been repatriated to Italy. Analysts estimate repatriated funds have flowed mainly into small- and medium-sized banks.

The amnesty, which expired on Dec. 15 and led to tensions with neighbouring Switzerland, allowed Italians to declare illegally held assets, paying a one-off tax of 5 percent.

The ministry said in a statement a prolongation of the amnesty until end-April, approved by the cabinet this month, would be the one and only extension. Government sources say they expect this to reap a further 30 billion euros.

“The time of tax havens has finished forever,” said the ministry statement. “To place or keep money in tax havens is no longer convenient, neither in economic nor tax terms. The returns are small, the risk is high.”

By Ian Simpson and Lisa Jucca

MILAN/ZURICH, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Italy’s tax amnesty is set to be the country’s most successful yet with a carrot-and-stick approach resulting in the return of more than 100 billion euros ($151 billion) stashed abroad, analysts estimated.

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By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Some 14,700 rich Americans worried about a U.S. government crackdown on offshore tax cheats came forward to participate in a tax amnesty program, the top U.S. tax official said on Tuesday.

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ROME, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s Economy Minister Doris Leuthard, visiting Rome on Thursday in the midst of a dispute over tax policies, said her country was willing to sign a double taxation treaty with Italy but only if it was removed from a blacklist of tax havens.

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ROME, Oct 29 (Reuters) – A row between Italy and Switzerland over tax evasion deepened on Thursday with one Swiss region launching a hunt for Italian agents trespassing on its soil as Rome warned against retaliation for its raids on Swiss banks.

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    Oct 15 (Reuters) – A U.S. voluntary disclosure programme that helps wealthy Americans avoid criminal prosecution when disclosing secret offshore bank accounts expires on Oct. 15. (more…)

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Thousands of wealthy Americans have volunteered information about unreported income hidden in overseas accounts ahead of the deadline for a U.S. government tax amnesty program, the U.S. tax commissioner said on Wednesday.

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By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) – A retired sales manager for airplane maker Boeing Co on Monday pleaded guilty to hiding nearly $2 million in Swiss UBS AG accounts, as the United States pursues Americans illegally stashing funds abroad to avoid taxes.

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By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – UBS AG has formally warned wealthy American clients that secret Swiss accounts may be revealed to U.S. tax authorities after the Wednesday expiration of an amnesty program that could give them immunity from prosecution.

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By Deepa Babington
SAN MARINO, Aug 17 (Reuters) – San Marino has seen medieval intrigue and papal army invasions in its 1,708-year history, but a modern-day banking scandal and blitz on tax havens risks bringing the world’s oldest republic to its knees.
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