Athens Proposes Deal to Tax Greeks' Undeclared Assets in Swiss Banks

Following years of talks with Switzerland on disclosure of untaxed Greek money in Swiss bank accounts, Athens is now presenting a proposal to grant amnesty to tax evaders on the condition that they pay a 21-percent levy on undeclared assets, a Swiss newspaper said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The proposal comes amid a deep economic crisis in Greece, with the country unable to repay its multi-billion dollar debt to its international creditors.

According to NZZ am Sonntag, the amounts of Greek funds hidden in Swiss banks accounts range widely between two and 200 billion euro ($2.2 billion and $222 billion).

The amnesty of the latter figure's tax evaders is expected to bring a much-needed revenue to the Greek government, according to the paper.

"We welcome the fact that Greece has put forward a proposed solution," the paper quoted Mario Tuor, Head of Communications at the Swiss State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), as saying.

Greece owes some $270 billion of its total $350-billion debt to its major international lenders — the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and some eurozone nations.

On June 30, Athens defaulted on the IMF after failing to transfer a $1.7-billion loan repayment before the expiry of the aid package. On Sunday, a nation-wide referendum is being held in Greece on whether to accept creditors' proposals envisaging spending cuts and tax increases in exchange for another financial aid package.