Switzerland and Germany will sign a deal to regularise untaxed money stashed in secret Swiss bank accounts on Aug. 10, media in the two countries reported on Sunday, according to Reuters. Strict banking secrecy, which helped Switzerland build a multi-trillion dollar offshore banking industry, has come under heavy fire and strained relations between Switzerland and other countries seeking to hunt tax cheats. Swiss authorities have been in talks with counterparts in Germany and Britain over tax deals for months. Outline deals were agreed last year, but one of the main sticking points has been how to tax funds that have been stashed away for many years. Swiss banks are likely to have to pay an up-front advance payment to the German government, which will only be reimbursed if their clients pay back-taxes they owe to the German authorities. In future, the Swiss banks will levy a withholding tax on income earned by assets belonging to German customers. Germans' undeclared assets held in Switzerland are believed to total 200 billion Swiss francs. -- SPA
