It was reveled on November 11th by Klaus Tschütscher, Liechtenstein Prime Minister, that the nation will be considered as adequately complying with the G20′s and OECD’s efforts to combat international tax evasion. By signing Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with Belgium and Netherlands, Liechtenstein has brought their total agreement number to the required minimum of twelve to be judged as having substantially implemented the internationally agreed standard in exchange of fiscal information. The status change also circumvents possible sanctions or actions from G20 nations, directed at jurisdictions they deem to be uncooperative in taxation matters.

Commenting on the event, the Prime Minister said, “I think this is a good standpoint for the future, though of course it’s an intermediate step,” he continued on to say “We are working in open markets, in a globalized world, so tax evasion should be marginalized”. Klaus Tschütscher also pronounced that the removal of the country’s “grey list” status is a “milestone”. Displaying his backing to these words, Liechtenstein is already in negotiation with more countries for similar tax information agreements and has joined Global Forum in Transparency and Exchange of Information.

Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, praising the country on its efforts said, “I would like to commend Liechtenstein for its swift implementation of the OECD standard on exchange of information. After its acceptance of the standard on 12 March 2009, Liechtenstein has within a few months turned into reality its commitment to fully cooperate in tax matters. I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Klaus Tschütscher for his leadership and continued efforts in this process”.

At the G20 Summit on November 7th, in St. Andrews, Scotland, the UK Prime Minister suggested banks be levied with a tax on their financial transactions. Gordon Brown made it clear that he wishes to see the burden of bank bailouts shifted from the tax payers to the institutions themselves and that this tax was one form of doing that. Other suggestions voiced by the PM included raising insurance premiums for banks to reflect their risk levels, creating bank financed investment pools which will fund bailouts, or instating upfront fees for banks, which will give them a right to request government help.

An early form of the proposed tax was put forward by James Tobin in an effort to create currency stability, after the 1971 announcement that the US Dollar would no longer convert to gold. It was originally created as 1% levy on all foreign currency trades by a bank, though modern discussion has lowered this figure to between 0.1% and 0.25%. James Tobin envisioned that the tax would reign in bank’s speculative activity and bring a higher level of stability to the economy by lowering both fluctuations in currencies and bank risk. The name Tobin has been used on modern incarnations of taxation systems that bare resemblance to the original Tobin Tax, though they might differ slightly in reality.

Quick response to the suggestion came from Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, who made it clear that the US government would not support the the creation of a Tobin Tax, or any form of “day-to-day financial transaction tax”, though he did not rule out the creation of some form of fiscal incentive to lower bank risk. The view of the US Treasury Secretary was supported by officials from Canada and Russia. Gordon Brown, meanwhile, had the backing of France and Germany.

Speaking on the 21st of September in regards to the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburg, Stephen Timms, UK Financial Secretary, has decried tax evasion as being morally wrong, he then proceeded to claim that further efforts will soon be made to “tilt the game back towards honest, hard-working taxpayers”.

It was announced on the same day that Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will use his Pre-Budget Report to instate tougher penalties for tax avoiders, attempt to close loop-holes which make it easier to utilize offshore accounts in avoiding tax liability, strengthen means by which tax avoiders are sought and increase the amount of information available to HM Revenue and Customs.

Alistair Darling also promised to expand the United Kingdom’s network of Tax Information Exchange Agreements. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minster is expected to hold talks with international leaders during the G20 summit, seeking to instate sanctions on economically non-cooperative jurisdictions.

Attempting to foster increased international assistance in the UK’s efforts, Stephen Timms said “ahead of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, I call on my overseas counterparts to build further in this area on the achievements of the UK presidency this year.”

The London G20 Summit, held on the 2nd of April this year, heralded an unprecedented wave of Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA). In what was described as “revolutionary” by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, the number of completed TIEAs has almost doubled since their inception in late 2000.
Since the G20 summit, and subsequent global push for greater tax transparency and compliance, the following 53 agreements have been signed.

United States – Monaco (8 September 2009)
Denmark – Turks & Caicos Islands (7 September 2009)
Netherlands – Antigua & Barbuda (2 September 2009)
Denmark – Gibraltar (2 September 2009)
Denmark – Anguilla (2 September 2009)
Germany – Liechtenstein (2 September 2009)
Netherlands – St Vincent & the Grenadines (1 September 2009)
Denmark – St Vincent & Grenadines (1 September 2009)
Denmark – St Kitts & Nevis (1 September 2009)
Netherlands – St Kitts & Nevis (1 September 2009)
Canada – Netherlands Antilles (29 August 2009)
United Kingdom – Gibraltar (27 August 2009)
Australia – Gibraltar (25 August 2009)
New Zealand – British Virgin Islands (14 August 2009)
New Zealand – Cayman Islands (14 August 2009)
New Zealand – Gibraltar (13 August 2009)
Germany – Gibraltar (13 August 2009)
United Kingdom – Liechtenstein (11 August 2009)
Monaco – San Marino (29 July 2009)
Bermuda – Ireland (28 July 2009)
New Zealand – Isle of Man (27 July 2009)
New Zealand – Jersey (27 July 2009)
United Kingdom – Turks & Caicos (23 July 2009)
Netherlands – Turks & Caicos (22 July 2009)
Netherlands – Anguilla (22 July 2009)
Ireland – Turks & Caicos (22 July 2009)
Ireland – Anguilla (22 July 2009)
New Zealand – Guernsey (21 July 2009)
UK – Anguilla (20 July 2009)
Belgium – Monaco (15 July 2009)
New Zealand – Cook Islands (9 July 2009)
Netherlands – Cayman Islands (8 July 2009)
Germany – Bermuda (3 July 2009)
Ireland – Gibraltar (24 June 2009)
Ireland – Cayman Islands (23 June 2009)
France – British Virgin Islands (17 June 09)
Australia – Jersey (10 June 2009)
The Netherlands – Bermuda (8 June 2009)
Denmark – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Faroes – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Finland – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Greenland – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Iceland – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Norway – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
Sweden – British Virgin Islands (19 May 2009)
New Zealand – Bermuda (17 April 2009)
Denmark – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Faroes – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Finland – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Greenland – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Iceland – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Norway – Bermuda (16 April 2009)
Sweden – Bermuda (16 April 2009)

Previous to these, 63 agreements had been signed, bringing the total at the 10th of September to 116.

Following a meeting of the Austrian Council of Ministers, the Austrian government has voiced its full support of creating a financial transaction tax system spanning the entirety of Europe. The idea was floated to the Austrian government in a paper written by Josef Pröll, Austrian Finance Minister. The aim of the financial transaction tax would be to rein in speculation on the financial markets and create a more stable currency markets. As set forth by Josef Pröll, the transaction tax could generate €2 billion in Austria alone.

This is not the first time that the Austrian government has greeted the idea of a transaction tax, having received unanimous support for it when raised earlier this year in April. Further, the United Kingdom saw similar sentiment voiced recently when Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of Britain’s Financial Services Authority proposed the same idea. The thought of a financial transaction tax has also been popular in France for a number of years, having first been raised in 2001 and once again this year, in late May.

No specific mention was made in regards to what will happen to the gains from any introduced financial transaction tax in Austria. Although, G20 finance ministers did meet on the 5th of September to discuss the options regarding the implementation of a worldwide transaction tax, the earnings from which would be used in the aid of anti-poverty campaigns.