At its meeting on 13 December 2017, the National Council approved the amended double taxation agreement (DTA) with Latvia, but did not wish to take a decision in principle on the referendability of such agreements.
In accordance with the business of the Federal Council (17,045), a protocol on the amendment of the DTA between Switzerland and Latvia will be submitted to the two parliamentary councils for approval.
In its dispatch, the Federal Council also requests that in future all comparable DTAs should no longer be subject to an optional referendum.
However, the Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation of the National Council (WAK-N) concluded that a single tax treaty was not the right place to determine such a change in practice, but should be the subject of a separate discussion. The Federal Council subsequently withdrew this additional proposal.
The National Council (first chamber) approved the amended DTA by 120 votes to 59 with 0 abstentions.
The minutes of the National Council meeting are available here.
