BERN, SWITZERLAND – Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s two-day visit to Switzerland that began Monday has already resulted in a number of initiatives, including a request by India for Switzerland’s support for an Indian seat on the UN Security Council as well as a fiscal agreement, and 11 new joint scientific research programmes.
Switzerland is the seventh most important importer of Indian goods and services, and trade between the two countries is CHF3.6 billion, with a 180 percent increase in the past decade. The trade surplus is CHF1.6b in Switzerland’s favour. Swiss exports to India rose by 21 percent in the first six months of 2011 while Indian exports to Switzerland rose by 31 percent.
Swiss direct investment in India in 2009, says the Swiss National Bank, was CHF3.3b.
The number of Indian tourists in Switzerland in 2009 rose by 21 percent.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble signed an agreement 27 October in Bern to open formal negotiations on cooperation in tax matters and improved market access by banks. They also signed a revised double taxation agreement.
Germany has long criticized Switzerland’s position on bank secrecy which has permitted German citizens to hide money from the German taxman. Switzerland has said it will not cooperate if German requests for administrative assistance are based on stolen bank data. Wednesday’s agreement lays out a common approach to tax evasion.
Negotiations start in January 2011. Opposition parties in Germany and Switzerland have criticized the agreement, according to NZZ.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Germany and Switzerland agreed Friday 26 March to a new double taxation treaty whose details will not be disclosed until it is signed, but initial reports indicate that it will likely include the Swiss agreeing to tax at source income of German who hold Swiss bank accounts. In exchange, Switzerland may have greater access to the Swiss banking market.
The agreement reportedly will not include an amnesty for Germans who have not declared their Swiss accounts, and Switzerland has asked for Germany to share the bank data stolen in 2008 that one of its states purchased.
Update 2 23:30 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland and the US late Wednesday Swiss time signed, thereby bringing into effect immediately a revised double taxation agreement, known officially as the Protocol of Amendment. The two have had a double taxation agreement since 1996, but the revised Protocol brings Switzerland into line with OECD standards in terms of providing assistance to the US in the case of suspected fiscal fraud and tax evasion. The agreement states that when a country asks for help with suspected tax evaders it must provide “information sufficient to identify the person under examination or investigation (typically, name and, to the extent known, address, account number or similar identifying information”, the period of time for which the information is requested and the tax purpose for which the information is sought. Fishing expeditions – requests for assistance without supplying these details – are specifically forbidden.
The terms of the agreement are not retroactive and most go into effect immediately, although some terms are valid as of 1 January 2010.
Switzerland by Thursday 24 September will have signed 10 new agreements, a, just in time for a meeting of the G20 countries 24-25 September in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US, and it is expected to be removed from the OECD’s unofficial gray list of tax shelters Friday.
Additional highlights of the new Protocol include:
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland is expected to sign a new double taxation agreement with the US Wednesday 23 September, Urs Kapalle of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) told a group in Geneva Tuesday evening. The federal government has indicated the signing could be soon, without specifying a date.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Council Wednesday 19 August approved six of the 12 new double taxation agreements required by the OECD before the end of 2009 if Switzerland is to avoid being considered an “uncooperative” country by the group of 30 rich countries, in terms of tax assistance to other nations. Such countries make up the much publicized OECD gray list, versus a black list of tax havens.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The United Kingdom is the tenth country to initial a revised double taxation agreement with Switzerland, followed Bern’s decision 13 March to follow OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines for tax treaties. The OECD has given Switzerland until December to initial new agreements with 12 countries in order to be removed from what is known as its gray list of countries considered to not cooperate fully in tax evasion investigations.
The initialing process indicates that the countries have agreed to the negotiated terms in principle.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland and the United States “initialed” a revised double taxation agreement (DTA) in Washington, DC 18 June. According to the US government, “Official signing of the protocol is expected in the next few months.” A new agreement was necessary following the Swiss government’s decision 13 March to adopt the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Model Convention standard under which countries provide each other with tax assistance.
The decision followed pressure on Switzerland from other OECD member countries to ease its strict banking secrecy laws. The OECD has told Switzerland it must have 12 new bilateral tax agreements in place by the end of 2009 if it does not want to appear on a “gray list” of countries that are considered non-compliant.
