The amendment sets a course for greater tax information sharing between the two countries. It is also hoped this will relieve some of the pressure the US is putting on Swiss banks, such as UBS, to share information.
Although the Swiss-US treaty has allowed information exchange for a number of decades, Swiss banking secrecy rules have seen the Switzerland interpreting these rules narrowly.
The new treaty will allow the IRS to ask the Swiss authorities to share the names of US taxpayers who exhibit “behavioural patterns” of tax evasion as set out by US law.
FURTHER READING:
Switzerland puts forward new tax compliance model
EXCLUSIVE: Rudolf Elmer explains why he blew the whistle on Julius Bär’s secret evasion activities
Ten things you need to know about the UK-Swiss tax deal
Swiss banks to pay $2.8 billion to Germany in tax evasion deal