Mexico tax authorities to probe SwissLeaks accounts

MEXICO’S financial authorities will investigate whether Mexicans who appear on a leaked list of account holders at HSBC bank in Switzerland paid their taxes, an official said Thursday.

Aristoteles Nunez, head of the country’s tax collection service, said his agency will check whether the Mexicans linked to the SwissLeaks scandal failed to declare any earnings.

“We are reviewing the tax returns of the people who appear on the list,” Nunez told Radio Formula.

Tax authorities must check whether the 2,642 Mexicans on the list are registered taxpayers in Mexico, he said, as only 39 percent apparently have a Mexican passport.

On Sunday, documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed the Swiss division of London-based HSBC helped wealthy clients worldwide evade taxes on accounts containing some $119 billion.