INTERNATIONAL TAX PLAZA - Switzerland and EU initial agreement on automatic exchange of information in tax matters

(March 19, 2015)

On March 19, 2015 both Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) as well as European Commission issued press releases stating that on March 19, 2015 Switzerland and the EU initialled an agreement regarding the introduction of the global standard for the automatic exchange of information in tax matters. Switzerland and the 28 EU member states intend to collect account data from 2017 and exchange it from 2018 once the necessary legal basis has been created.

According to the press release as issued by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) the agreement on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters will replace the taxation of savings agreement with the EU that has been in force since 2005 and will apply for all 28 EU member states. The Swiss Federal Department of Finance furthermore states that the OECD's global AEOI standard has been included in full in the new agreement and that the AEOI agreement is reciprocal.

The press release furthermore states that withholding tax exemption for cross-border payments of dividends, interest and royalties between related entities has been taken over from the existing taxation of savings agreement.

It is also stated that the agreement is supplemented by a joint statement from the contracting parties indicating that it will be sought to have the agreement enter into force on January 1, 2017.

According to the press release the Swiss Federal Department of Finance expects that the agreement is signed in the coming weeks. In Switzerland, the agreement will then be submitted to Parliament for approval. The press release also states that it is subject to an optional referendum.

The agreement's entry into force in 2017 is conditional on completion of the approval processes in Switzerland and the EU by then.

For further information click here to be forwarded to the press release as published on the website of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance.

To be forwarded to the press release as published in the Daily News section of the website of the European Commission click here.

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