by Davide Anghileri
After having received its mandate from the Swiss government to prepare a new corporate tax reform proposal, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Finance (FDF) today announced it has begun work, calling its new initiative “Tax Proposal 17.”
The new plan follows the stunning rejection of Switzerland’s corporate tax reform III last month by popular referendum.
Corporate tax reform III would have replaced Switzerland’s preferential tax regimes with a general reduction of the headline corporate tax rate applicable to all companies and introduced a patent box regime, an R&D super deduction, a notional interest deduction on surplus equity, and tax-neutral treatment of built-in gains upon the relocation of a company to Switzerland with a corresponding step-up in tax basis.
This measure was defeated, though, causing Switzerland to scramble for alternatives.
This time, Swiss cities and communes will be closely involved in the preparation of the corporate tax proposal, it was decided during the steering body’s kick-of meeting.
The steering committee will be led by Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer and its members will be from the cantons and the administration.
The aim of the corporate tax proposal is not only to maintain the attractiveness and the competitiveness of Switzerland as a business location, but also to have a new corporate tax system in line with the latest international tax standards.
However, all parties agreed it was necessary to conclude process quickly, leaving a relatively small amount of flexibility, the FDF said.
During the meeting, the timetable for Tax Proposal 17 was defined, taking in account the necessity of swift implementation.
The first step will be to hold hearings in March with political parties, cities and communes, national churches, and associations.
Then, based on those hearings, the other steps will be precisely outlined, with a goal to submit the new proposal to the Federal Council in June for decision-making.
Davide Anghileri
Davide Anghileri is a PhD candidate at the University of Lausanne, where he is writing his thesis on the attribution of profits to PEs. He researches transfer pricing issues and lectures for the Master of Advanced Studies in International Taxation and Executive Program on Transfer Pricing.
Anghileri, a Contributing Editor at MNE Tax, previously worked as a policy advisor to the Swiss government on BEPS issues.
Davide can be reached at [email protected].
Latest posts by Davide Anghileri (see all)
- Swiss government approves new law governing tax treaties - November 11, 2020
- EU states’ compliance with tax avoidance directives assessed in Commission report - August 26, 2020
- Italy clarifies VAT reporting obligations of online marketplaces - June 16, 2020
- EU blacklist: Cayman Islands added with other three jurisdictions - February 18, 2020
- Italy adopts digital services tax, notional interest deduction - January 8, 2020
Be the first to comment