28 February 2008

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand authorities have joined the hunt for tax dodgers who have deposited money in Liechtenstein, it was reported on Thursday.

The Inland Revenue Department said it was investigating up to a dozen New Zealanders who may have avoided paying 1 to 2 million New Zealand dollars (about 810,000 to 1.6 million US dollars), Wellington’s Dominion Post reported.

A department spokesman said it had evidence that past and existing tax-paying New Zealanders had used Liechtenstein bank accounts to avoid tax.

An international inquiry into tax dodgers using Liechtenstein which began in Germany has spread to Scandinavia, the United States, Australia, Italy and France.

[Copyright dpa 2008]