BRUSSELS, May 14, 2008 (AFP) - EU Tax Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said Wednesday he saw support among finance ministers in the bloc to broaden out rules against tax dodgers who stash cash in offshore accounts.

'What was emphasized by a number of ministers was to extend the scope of the directive which is rather limited now,' Kovacs told journalists after a meeting with EU finance ministers in Brussels.

With Berlin and Liechtenstein mired in a standoff over tax evasion, the ministers asked the European Commission in March to step up a review of a 2005 savings tax directive.

With an interim report due from the commission by September 30 at the latest, the ministers asked the EU's executive arm on Wednesday to produce proposals on how to improve the directive in following weeks.

In its present form, the savings tax directive requires EU members to share tax information with one other on interest income kept by account holders from other EU countries.

However, there are special arrangements for Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg to protect their jealously guarded banking secrecy, under which they impose a witholding tax rather than exchanging information.

The EU has similar bilateral agreements with a clutch of countries and territories known for their banking secrecy laws, including Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

However, the savings directive allows considerable scope for people to set up foundations in order to get around the rules, which also do not cover such revenues as dividend income or capital gains.

Kovacs said that there was interest among the ministers to broaden the directive to close those loopholes, so that there would be a wider coverage of beneficiaries of income and the sources of income.

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said he would continue efforts to tighten the rules on tax havens, but acknowledged that Austria and Luxembourg remain reluctant.

Any change in the rules would require unanimous backing from member states, giving the two countries the power to veto any reform of the directive, which in its present form is already the product of many years of tough bargaining.