Federal Council adopts dispatch on revision of Tax Administrative Assistance Act

Bern, 16.10.2013 - Today, the Federal Council took note of the results of the consultation procedure on the partial revision of the Tax Administrative Assistance Act and adopted the corresponding dispatch for the attention of parliament. Switzerland will fulfil the OECD standard with the planned clarifying details regarding the deferred notification of affected persons.

The consultation was conducted from 14 August to 18 September 2013. The proposal concerning the deferred notification of persons who are the subject of administrative assistance proceedings was received positively by the majority. Switzerland will thereby fulfil the applicable international standard. Under the existing law, taxpayers had to be notified without exception before data concerning them was transmitted to the requesting state.

Based on the results of the consultation procedure, the Federal Council has specified in its draft that deferred notification of taxpayers is possible only in exceptional cases. The requesting state will also have to substantiate its request, e.g. by claiming the investigation would risk being compromised in the event of prior notification.

Group requests are already possible under the existing law. In order to improve efficiency, the revision provides for a notification procedure that is tailored to group requests. According to the draft, the Federal Council is given the power to determine the contents required for group requests. It will take the international standard into account in doing so.

The issue of administrative assistance requests based on stolen data met with strong opposition during the consultation. The Federal Council wished to break the deadlock whereby Switzerland is unable to respond to numerous requests due to a very restrictive practice in this area. According to the consultation draft, Switzerland could have responded to requests on the strict condition that the requesting state acquired the data lawfully and passively, e.g. via a third country. Switzerland would have continued to refrain from responding to requests based on data acquired actively.

This easing would also have created more favourable conditions for Switzerland with regard to the Global Forum, which examines the efficiency of administrative assistance in practice during phase 2. However, those who participated in the consultation procedure rejected all changes of practice. Consequently, the Federal Council has decided not to include the planned provision.

The Federal Council believes the revision of the Tax Administrative Assistance Act is necessary due to international developments in the area of taxation. During the summit in September 2013, the G20 members once again urged all jurisdictions to implement the Global Forum's recommendations without delay. This appeal was addressed particularly to those states which, like Switzerland, have not yet been admitted to the second phase of the peer review. Moreover, the Global Forum will commence the final grading of the first 50 states which have completed both phases of the peer review this autumn.

These final grades will have a significant impact internationally. So long as Switzerland has not passed the first two phases of the peer review, the pressure will continue to increase, bringing with it the growing risk of black lists and other bilateral and multilateral sanctions.


Address for enquiries

Anne Césard, Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF)
+41 31 322 62 91, anne.cesard@sif.admin.ch



Publisher

The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html

Federal Department of Finance
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https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-50606.html