“I don’t have any information about citizens’ deposits in other countries. I think that we will have that information if we participate in the information exchange network,” he told LRT TV.
“Many companies, including those that are active in Lithuania, are engaged in aggressive tax planning. We find it very important that a company, if it is active in Lithuania, pays taxes in our country as well,” he added.
The minister said that he understood the stance of Austria, which, same as Luxembourg, is against the proposals to abolish bank secrecy in favor of automatic exchange of such information.
“Both countries have not expressed any specific objections with respect to the text of the directive. On the contrary, they agree with the existing text, yet they cannot fully approve it now,” the news portal lrt.lt quoted Algirdas Šemeta, European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud, as saying.
The European Union’s (EU) finance ministers have agreed to step up fight against tax evaders. Next week, fight against tax evasion will be discussed by the Community’s leaders.
