Austrian industry tells Berlin: We're no tax haven

Austrian industry leaders have written an open letter to German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck to protest after he called Austria a tax haven.

Germany is taking action against hundreds of wealthy Germans who may have evaded taxes by parking money in Liechtenstein, and Steinbrueck has said the activities of Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria must also be addressed.

Veit Sorger, president of the Federation of Austrian Industry and Christoph Leitl, president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, said Berlin and Vienna were linked through close economic cooperation and true friendship.

"It's with even greater astonishment that we heard of your reproach, expressed through the media, that Austria was a 'tax haven' that had to be fought against," they wrote in a letter published on a full page in the Financial Times Deutschland.

Mr Sorger and Mr Leitl condemned "attempts to solve shortfalls in German policy on attracting business with disproportionate attacks on Austrian laws on taxation and trusts".

Austria was taxing foreign recipients' capital gains to on the basis of an EU decision, they said. "(Austria) is no more a tax haven than Germany," they said.

Austrian banks require the identification of anyone depositing over $50,000. Access to information on accounts is provided on request to a government producing evidence that the account holder is involved in a criminal investigation.