The republic of San Marino is one of the latest jurisdictions to be hit by the global crackdown on tax evasion with the Italian authorities pushing for ways to overcome diminishing tax revenues caused by the financial crisis. With pressures from the European Union to battle tax evasion, and rumours that Italian celebrities are hiding out in the republic to take advantage of the tax haven's banking secrecy laws and low tax rates, its finance secretary says the government is carrying out a census to find which residents are genuine. Gabriele Gatti, the finance secretary told the Times: 'We launched the census after taking office last December. We know what needs to be done'. An Italian tax amnesty was launched in July for those who hold assets offshore, which amounted to tax evasion unless it could be proved otherwise, but Gatti is optimistic that the scheme has not hit the jurisdiction harshly. He said: 'We are not under attack The time when our economy was based on secrecy and anonymity is past, but we have other strengths'. Gatti added: 'In the past, our economy was based on banking secrecy; now we need better services to encourage tourism, new markets. We do not see this as change which is being forced on us in a negative way; we see it as an opportunity'. The priority now for San Mario's foreign minister, Antonella Mularino is to push 12 tax sharing agreements to up its 'grey list' status that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has given it. She commented: 'Other politicians are on the beaches, not us'.