No thanks
IOC withdraws request for Swiss tax exemption
Posted: Wednesday February 17, 1999 03:03 PM
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IOC director-general Francois Carrard (left) has said the exemption was worth about $216,600 a year. Matthew Stockman/Allsport |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- The International Olympic Committee
has withdrawn its request for a tax concession from the Swiss
government.
The exemption from value-added tax, which drew widespread
criticism in Switzerland amid the Salt Lake City bribery scandal,
had already received government approval.
"The IOC thanks the Federal Council for its understanding of a
request, which it had formulated with a view to the harmonious and
rational functioning of its international activities, and not out
of financial interests," a statement said today.
It gave no reason for the decision, which was communicated to
the Swiss government in a letter Tuesday.
Last month, a day after the IOC ousted six members accused in
the scandal, the Swiss parliament's economy and tax committee voted
12-11 in favor of exempting the body from value-added tax. The
lower house of parliament was to give final approval in March.
The Lausanne-based IOC has been exempt from paying direct tax in
Switzerland since 1981, but it had to seek a separate exemption to
the value-added tax when the Swiss adopted that form of taxation in
1995.
The concession was approved by the government in September, four
years after the IOC requested it.
"This decision in no way undermines the will of the IOC to
pursue the good relations it enjoys with Switzerland, its
authorities and its population," the IOC statement said.
IOC executive board member Marc Hodler was quoted last month as
saying the IOC had decided to withdraw the request. The IOC denied
it had made any decision.
IOC director-general Francois Carrard has said the exemption was
worth about $216,600 a year, not $1.44 million as widely reported.
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