Switzerland 'to hit back' at OECD in tax row

Switzerland is considering further measures against the OECD in the row over how much the country is doing to reform its policy on tax havens, media reports said Sunday.
The Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) quoted Swiss officials as saying they might block progress in cooperation with China, India and other emerging countries in protest against being placed on the OECD's "grey list".
On Wednesday Switzerland blocked a payment of 136,000 euros (180,000 dollars) to the OECD, a 30-member organisation of major industrialised countries.
Officials were now considering delaying their membership subscription of 10 million Swiss francs (8.65 million dollars) or blocking the 2011 reelection of OECD secretary general Angel Gurria, the paper reported.
The federal finance ministry could not be reached for comment.
But Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin told Sonntag, another Sunday paper, that it was not up to the OECD to act as a "restaurant guide" on the issue.
On April 2, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a "grey list" of countries that "have committed to the internationally agreed tax standard, but have not yet substantially implemented" the measures.