On 29 May 2020, the Conference of Cantonal Finance Directors (FDK) published a statement on the consultation process for the federal law on withholding tax.
On April 3, 2020, the Federal Council adopted a consultation draft to strengthen the debt capital market in Switzerland and to close a gap in withholding tax coverage (see our contribution of April 4, 2020).
The FDK acknowledges the need for action for this reform and considers the objectives to be reasonable. It therefore supports the reform proposed by the Federal Council in principle, but would also like to point out that the proposal would entail additional financial risks for the cantons and would require considerable implementation effort. For the relevant problem areas - in particular the sharing of risks between the Confederation and the cantons - solutions would therefore have to be urgently developed in cooperation with the cantons.
The statement of the FDK is available here.
