On November 14, 2016 the Swiss Federal Department of Finance issued a press release announcing that the Agreement of October 6, 2011 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on Cooperation in the area of Taxation, as amended by the Protocol of March 20, 2012 (Withholding tax agreement) will be terminated as per January 1, 2017. As per that same date, the agreement between Switzerland and the EU on the automatic exchange of information in tax matters will enter into force. In the same press release it is announced that on November 14, 2016 Switzerland and the UK signed a termination agreement to ensure a smooth transition between the two models.

 

The Withholding tax agreement between Switzerland and the UK entered into force on January 1, 2013. It allowed the regularisation of assets held in Switzerland by UK taxpayers and the taxation of income generated by these assets based on the Federal Council's financial integrity strategy. In accordance with this agreement, UK taxpayers had the option of either paying withholding tax levied directly on their accounts and anonymously transmitted to the UK authorities or opting for voluntary disclosure. According to the FDF this model loses its reason to exist at all with the introduction of the automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and the EU as of January 1, 2017.

 

The press release furthermore states the following:

The termination agreement governs in particular the arrangements for transferring the last tax amounts and the forwarding of the last voluntary disclosures to the UK tax authorities. The provisions of the withholding tax agreement will continue to apply for all facts and legal rights that materialised during its period of validity.

 

Click on the language of your choice to be forwarded to the text of the Agreement of November 14, 2016 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on the termination of the Agreement of October 6, 2011 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on Cooperation in the area of Taxation, as amended by the Protocol of March 20, 2012. (English, German, French and Italian)

 

Switzerland concluded a similar Withholding tax agreement with Austria. On November 11, 2016 Switzerland and Austria already concluded a termination agreement with respect to that Withholding tax agreement. For further information on the termination agreement as concluded between Switzerland and Austria we refer to our article from November 11, 2016.

 

 

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