Wikileaks: EU to hand over financial transactions data to US government

[SealLion]

I think that this article has got more to do with the Swiss banking system and it's related secrecy for it's many customers.

At least that's the idea I got after reading it and also recalling some of the above mentioned info re: Swiss Banking secrecy and how the US wants to gain access to some of it's citizen's banking info that is held abroad.

See for yourself. Maybe I"m wrong but that' what I think

The presidency of the European Union - currently held by Sweden as represented through its Minister for European Union affairs..... presented a draft Council decision to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council regarding an agreement between the United States and the European Union..........The Swedish presidency wants to push through an agreement that would grant the US access to domestic and intra-European wire transfer records.....The scope of application would be very wide-ranging and thus provide near all-encompassing access for US authorities

It's actually a medium length sized article. Here's the link:

EU to hand over financial transactions data to US government - Wikileaks

[slikrapid]

another breach of privacy, the government doesn't need to know our bank/transaction records, its none of their business - if however they have enough good reasons for a court order concerning a specific bank account that's another story (if its an international one, there are legal ways to get the data), but just handing the data over to them is against our basic privacy rights

we had a thread on ACTA here, so these are the kind of drafts that need to be closely monitored, as they are always written with a purpose (some have other underlying & not so easily visible purposes too) - the problem with EU is that it has tens of thousands of laws & many pending drafts which makes it hard for less informed individuals to get an overview, let alone to grasp the possible implications - some countries are even applying the lets-sign-it-&-hope-for-the-best or never-mind-it-doesnt-concern-us-directly kind of role considering these documents, which is wrong attitude - every draft has to be dissected & looked into from many points of view, including public & non-governmental organizations involvement - afterall, these laws will influence the EU citizen's life in one way or another, directly or indirectly, now or in the long run,... - leaving things to the EU elected bodies alone is a dangerous scenario, prone to corruptive influences of different kinds (industry, multinationals, secret societies,...) - the public should be granted free access & insight into EU operation & documents, otherwise it could turn into a closed-circle body without respect/regard for the public (some say it already is heading that way)

http://www.sb-innovation.de/f50/wikileaks-internet-enforcement-16736/

[SealLion]

Yes. That's true. Privacy issues are an important consideration for every person involved.

It's not every body's concern, who sits in some office that pertains to revenue collection, to know about every aspect of your money.

But it is definity important, where one revenue collection service that is from one government, is freely given access to another government's revenue services about people who hold offshore money in that same country.

It is equally important that there be transparency in governmental actions that directly, or even indirectly, have some kind of an effect on it's citizens.

However, what about those issues in which, let's say an individual from one country has money offshore in another country, yet is deliberately not informing his own country's revenue collection service's about the fact that he has, let's say, a few hundred thousand dollars in a foreign bank account.

Would it be appropriate for his country's revenue collection service to be aware of this fact??

If not, then under what circumstances would it ( the revenue collection service), be made aware of this fact. Take into consideration that his government is collecting taxes on the interest earned on his offshore held money.

Is it unethical for that same person to not report the fact that he has money held offshore??

why do you feel that it isn't important to know about some government's business about one's own banking transactions??

Your correct.
It isn't important for someone in the revenue services to know about how much money you hold, but don't you think that it has some kind of business to at least know about if you have money offshore??

[slikrapid]

But it is definity important, where one revenue collection service that is from one government, is freely given access to another government's revenue services about people who hold offshore money in that same country.

well, lets say that you got the money legally in the first place, meaning your transactions records show its origin & you have already paid the taxes on it before you receive it - after that you are free to do whatever you want with the money, as it is now tax free, so you can put it in an foreign bank if you want, but that still isn't your governments business as the taxes have already been paid

if we're talking about companies, they have to be able to supply the actual paperwork, to be on the legal side

If not, then under what circumstances would it ( the revenue collection service), be made aware of this fact. Take into consideration that his government is collecting taxes on the interest earned on his offshore held money.

guess it depends on the agreements between countries & the amount of money we are talking about, but essentially if the money is in a foreign country, it is being used there, not in the owners own country, so he may be obligated to pay taxes to them or have some optional course of action

at least know about if you have money offshore??

well, imo they don't need to know everything, otherwise there would be no privacy, and i don't support paying taxes multiple times for the same thing, so i'd say the country has to see it through that its being paid once and after that you can use your money as you please/see fit