On 15 June 2017, both the National Council and the Council of States followed a proposal by the Drafting Committee, which provides for an adjustment to the temporary continuation of the special rate for accommodation services of 3.8% already decided by both Councils.
The bill goes back to the underlying parliamentary initiative of Dominique de Buman (15,410), who initially demanded that the special rate of 3.8% be definitively anchored in the VAT law in future. The National Council and Council of States finally agreed to extend the special rate by 10 years until the end of 2027 (see our contribution of 31 May 2017).
According to the editorial commission, an adjustment is necessary for the following reasons before the transaction can be voted against in the final vote: The currently valid article 25 paragraph 4 of the Value Added Tax Act (MWSTG) provides for a special rate of 3.8%, which is limited until the end of 2017. This 3.8% includes 0.2% for the IV supplementary financing, which will cease at the end of this year. This leaves a special rate of 3.6% for an extension.
The editorial commission explains this as follows: In accordance with the Federal Decree of 20 June 2013 on the financing and expansion of railway infrastructure, the Federal Council will increase the special rate by 0.1% as of 1 January 2018 (Article 196 No. 14 para. 4 of the Federal Constitution). This increase was already approved by the people and the cantons on 9 February 2014. This increase may therefore no longer be subject to referendum and, in the opinion of the Drafting Committee, should therefore not be included in the present provision of Article 25 of the VAT Act under discussion. The Federal Decree of 17 March 2017 on the additional financing of the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV) through an increase in VAT will only be submitted to the vote of the people and cantons on 24 September 2017. It has not yet been decided whether the 0.1% increase in the special rate provided for in the federal decree will be accepted, which is why the increase provided for in the federal decree does not need to be included in the present provision of Article 25 para. 4 of the VAT Act. Correctly, if all provisions were coordinated in this way, a special rate of only 3.6% would have to be provided for the amendment of Article 25 paragraph 4 of the VAT Act. In order to draw attention to the increases of 0.1% in each case, which will be introduced by the Fabi bill or, if necessary, by the 2020 pension bill, the Drafting Committee has included explanatory coordination provisions in the amending decree. These specify the percentage that will apply to the special rate on 1 January 2018, depending on the result of the vote on 24 September 2017 on the 2020 pension scheme.
The National Council and Council of States approved the amendment on 15 June 2017. The minutes of the National Council can be found here and the minutes of the Council of States are available here.
The bill is thus definitely ready for the final vote. The final vote text (legal text) is available here.
