At its meeting on August 29, 2018, the Federal Council decided not to extend mutual legal assistance for fiscal offences.
The bill was postponed for a long time because the revision of the criminal tax law was to be awaited (cf. Federal Council press release of 20 February 2013). At the end of 2017, the revision of the criminal tax law was definitely waived (cf. our contribution of 17 December 2017). In particular, the Federal Council considers the costs of the revision to be disproportionate in comparison to the income. On the basis of the existing rules on administrative assistance procedures and the automatic exchange of information (AIA), it can be assumed that Switzerland will receive rather few requests for mutual assistance in fiscal matters.
The press release is available here.
