The Advisory Council on the Future of the Swiss Financial Centre informed the Federal Council at its meeting on 8 June 2018 of its recommendations for a reform of the withholding tax.
In accordance with its recommendation to the Federal Council dated 26 April 2018 on "Rapid reform of the withholding tax to strengthen the Swiss capital market", the Advisory Council on the Future of the Financial Centre unanimously recommends that the underdeveloped Swiss capital market be given a major boost by means of a rapid reform of the withholding tax. In the opinion of the Council, the timing is favourable for various reasons in order to remove a central obstacle to development for the Swiss capital market with such a tax reform without significant tax losses and thus to strengthen the entire business location.
Among other things, it is recommended that the withholding tax on bonds and money market instruments be levied in a differentiated manner, so that domestic institutional investors and foreign investors are exempted from it. In addition, the withholding tax is to be redesigned as a paying agent tax and will be targeted at all natural persons resident in Switzerland. The administrative costs and liability risks for the financial institutions should be kept to a minimum.
Further details can be found in the "Recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Future of the Financial Centre to the Federal Council" and the dossier "International Comparison and Analysis of Possibilities for Improving the Framework Conditions".
