At its meeting on 27 February 2017, the National Council rejected the introduction of a minimum interest rate for prematurely paid amounts of direct federal tax.
According to a motion by the Finance Committee of the National Council (16.3912), the Federal Council should be instructed to set the rate of remuneration for prematurely paid amounts of direct federal tax at a minimum of 0.25 percent. The Finance Committee justifies its
The Federal Council's proposal is that the reduction to 0 per cent of the interest rate on amounts of direct federal tax paid early by the Federal Council on 21 October 2016 will eliminate the incentive for taxpayers to pay their taxes early, with the result that tax payments will increasingly be postponed into the future. In order to prevent this and not to jeopardise the high tax morale in Switzerland, the interest rate for prematurely paid amounts of direct federal tax should be set at a minimum of 0.25 percent.
In its session of 27 February 2017, the National Council (first chamber) rejected the motion by 86 votes to 97 with 2 abstentions.
The minutes of the National Council meeting are available here.
