In compliance with the agreement on the taxation of savings with the European Union (EU), in force since 1 July 2005, a system of tax retention of 20% was imposed from 1 July 2008 and the top rate of 35% has applied since 1 July 2011. 75% of the proceeds are passed to the member states concerned. 25% of the proceeds go to the Confederation, with 10% passed on to the cantons.
The payment deadline for the EU tax retained last year by Swiss paying agents on interest payments to individuals resident in EU member states expired on 31 March 2017. The gross revenue breakdown is as follows: CHF 56,1 million will be transferred to EU member states, Switzerland's share amounts to CHF 18,7 million. Of this amount, CHF 16,8 million will be transferred to the Confederation, and CHF 1,9 million to the cantons.
In addition, the agreement makes provision for the recipients of interest payments to choose between the system of tax retention and a voluntary declaration to the tax authorities. Overall in 2016, approximately 350’000 declarations were received. The breakdown of these declarations according to each EU country will be published soon on the website of the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
On 27 May 2015 Switzerland and the EU signed an agreement regarding the automatic exchange of information in tax matters (AEoI). In formal terms, the agreement is a protocol of amendment of the taxation of savings agreement between Switzerland and the EU. The AEoI replaces thus the abovementioned tax retention and declarations starting on 1 January 2017.
Address for enquiries
Patrick Teuscher, Head of Communication,
Federal Tax Administration FTA
Tel. +41 58 464 90 00
, media@estv.admin.ch.
Documents
Publisher
The Federal Tax Administration
http://www.estv.admin.ch
