At its meeting on 31 January 2018, the Federal Council decided that an amendment to the Federal Act on Stamp Duties (StG) would enter into force on 1 March 2018.
According to a press release issued by the FTA on 31 January 2018, organisations that are connected between clients abroad and their Swiss bank for the purpose of tax protection will be exempt from turnover tax from 1 March 2018. The new scheme concerns in particular the Italian "Fiduciarie statiche" (static trust company under Italian law). Italian clients of Swiss banks will benefit from the change and will now be able to buy and sell securities without having to pay the turnover tax several times over. This will eliminate a competitive disadvantage of the Swiss financial centre.
The proposal was undisputed in Parliament (see our contribution of 30 September 2017). With the entry into force of the law, the Federal Council is fulfilling the demand of the motion referred to it by Fabio Abate (13.4253).
The final voting text with Art. 19a StG, which will come into force on 1 March 2018, is available here.
