Unit for owning up to tax evasion closes

A service allowing tax avoiders to own up and avoid heavier penalties if found out, has closed, having collected €8 billion in tax and penalties

Published wednesday 24 January 2018 - 15:00 Last updated wednesday 24 January 2018 - 15:00

Some 14,000 remaining applications will still be dealt with this year. It opened in 2013 after controversy over the then budget minister who was found to have hidden money abroad.

An increasing number of countries, including all EU ones, are now in theory open to the automatic exchange of information on bank accounts, even if, partly for technical reasons, this is not yet operational everywhere.