With this law, Austria took a first step to be removed from the so-called grey list of tax havens drawn up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

"What has happened is nothing less than a revolution," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a statement.

"For decades it has been possible for taxpayers to hide income and assets from the taxman by abusing bank secrecy and other impediments to information exchange," Gurria said. "This will no longer be possible."

The Alpine tax haven was among several states - EU and non-EU countries - that were opposed to forwarding account details to other tax authorities for fear of losing business.

The decision paves the way for Austria to be removed from a gray list of nations not complying with international reporting norms.

Austria was among several states resisting the adoption of rules on forwarding account details to other tax authorities for fear of losing business.

Last week, Austria's governing coalition won the support of two opposition parties to secure the two-thirds majority needed to approve the change.

nrt/dpa/AFP
Editor. Nancy Isenson