Police raided 76 branches and offices of Swiss banks in Italy on Tuesday, raising tensions between the two countries over a tax amnesty which Rome hopes will bring back billions of euros illegally held abroad. The Italian tax agency said hundreds of police and tax inspectors made the checks as part of the fight against tax evasion and to ensure that all relevant data was being supplied to authorities.
The raids took part in various areas of northern Italy, including regions bordering Switzerland, and near the tiny tax haven of San Marino, a sovereign state surrounded by Italy. They occurred as both Switzerland and San Marino fear a generous Italian tax amnesty could spark a mass outflow of funds from their banks. Italy's tax authorities have said Italians hold an estimated 125 billion euros in Switzerland. "These banks operate in Italy and are under Italian supervision. We have nothing to say about it," a Swiss finance ministry spokesman said after the raids.
James Nason, spokesman for the Swiss banking association, said he found it strange that only Swiss banks were raided. "My own personal hunch is that the Italian authorities are straining to make some sort of symbolic political statement. At the same time, we should not forget that Italians love drama."
Switzerland last week protested against Italy's enforcement of the amnesty, which coincides with an international crackdown on tax havens and tax evasion. Under the terms of the tax amnesty - Italy's third in a decade - Italians holding undeclared funds in certain non-European Union countries, including Switzerland, must repatriate the funds to benefit from the amnesty.
Earlier this month, Italy published a list of 36 countries where funds can be declared and a one-off penalty paid without repatriating them. Switzerland was not on the list, which includes the European Union, the United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey and other countries the Italian agency says are co-operating by providing information.