taxlawblog.ch Your blog on Swiss tax law

The emergence and proliferation of crypto currencies have raised various questions about the tax treatment of these book-entry securities. The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has published a working paper outlining the practice developed to date (as at the end of May 2019).

The Documentation and Tax Information team, in collaboration with the Tax Policy Department, has prepared an article entitled "Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing" (STAF) for the Tax Information dossier.

After the "Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing" (TRAF) was approved by the people and cantons at a federal level with around 66% (see our article from May 19, 2019), the cantonal bill was also approved with around 56%.

Now that the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) is already a reality in international relations and the first data was sent to and from Switzerland last year (see our article from October 7, 2018), the Bernese Government Council is supporting the submission of a cantonal initiative by the Canton of Bern to enable the exchange of financial data within Switzerland (see also the report in the Berner Zeitung from August 19, 2019).

On August 20, 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published material amendments to the publications relating to the Value Added Tax Act (VATA).

On August 14, 2019, the Federal Council adopted the supplementary dispatch on the amendment to the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (Balanced taxation of couples and families).

On 12 August 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published adjustments to the price lists (ICTax) relating to the Direct Federal Tax and the lists of free shares 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has published a circular entitled "Flat-rate allowances for professional expenses and payments in kind 2020 / Compensation for the consequences of cold progression in direct federal tax for the 2020 tax year".

On 9 August 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) updated the lists of amendments to laws and ordinances relating to direct federal tax, value added tax, withholding tax and stamp duties.

On 8 August 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published a first draft of the practical definition.

On July 15, 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published adjustments to the price lists (ICTax) relating to direct federal tax and the 2017, 2018 and 2019 bonus share lists.

The statistics on the capital contribution principle (capital contributions, repayments and other changes) have been updated by the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).

On July 9, 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published a circular containing a list of cantons with different imputed rental values for cantonal taxes and direct federal tax from the 2018 tax period.

On July 25, 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published a circular regarding the tax treatment of bonds

On 24 July 2019, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published a circular concerning the tax treatment of syndicated loans, promissory note loans, bills of exchange and sub-participations.

The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has calculated and published the tax burden in the cantons and municipalities for the year 2018.

On 8 July 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) updated some of the selected parliamentary transactions in the field of taxation at federal level.

At its meeting on June 26, 2019, the Federal Council discussed the popular initiative "Easing the burden on wages, taxing capital fairly" and instructed the FDF to prepare a dispatch with a motion to reject the initiative without a counter-proposal.

On June 26, 2019, the Federal Council decided to resume the suspended reform of withholding tax. It adopted the objectives and key figures for this.

According to a decision by the Federal Assembly, the private use of company vehicles should be taxable at a flat rate which now also includes travel costs to the place of work. On 28 June 2019, the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) sent an amendment to the ordinance for consultation.

The Federal Council wants to waive the obligation to sign the electronically submitted tax return.

The National Council has adopted a motion which also provides for a half-yearly settlement of VAT for the effective settlement method.

The Council of States and the National Council have adopted the Federal Act on the Implementation of Recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

On June 17, 2019, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published material amendments to the publications relating to the Value Added Tax Act (VATA).

The article "Time-based assessment of taxes" from the tax information dossier has been updated.