Taxation In Switzerland

"Switzerland has recently witnessed an unprecedented level of tax treaty negotiations. Although this is a direct result of Switzerland's revised position regarding exchange of information, a number of contracting states have taken this opportunity to modify tax treaty benefits and/or clarify certain aspects of tax treaty interpretation and application. These are considered extensively in this edition. As Switzerland has steadily aligned itself with international principles of international taxation, the self-imposed anti-abuse rules for the application of tax treaties have become less relevant. Nevertheless, Swiss courts have become more creative in determining where there is and where there is not treaty abuse. As a result, the 1962 Abuse Decree is making way for a more complex basket of anti-abuse rules and regulations"--Foreword (page vii).

International Edition (Distribution in USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia) Both the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG) as well as the Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Income Taxes of the Cantons and Communities (StHG) allow non-working foreign citizens with Swiss residency to benefit from a special kind of income and wealth taxation. This historically anchored regulation has attracted wealthy foreign citizens to take up residency in Switzerland and will likely continue to do so. For the first time in over 150 years of lump-sum taxation history this book gives a systematical and comprehensive overview on the revised regulations and includes several side effects of taxation. *** As lector, the manner of concentration to the topic, the comprehensive processing of the literature, as well as with the changing legal bases in the federal state, and in the cantons, appears to me as impressive. Indeed, this extremely successful master thesis is qualified for an award ceremony. It is because of this that Mr. Luethi received, from my side, the predicate summa cum laude. (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Zwahlen, President of the advisory board of the Swiss Institute of Taxation, Zurich) *** Carol Gregor Luethi has very extensively investigated lump-sum taxation. Beneath the historical and current developments he was not afraid to investigate the practice in the cantons, what is very meritorious as there partly exist large differencies. Also, for this topic, existing literature and judicature is seamlessly integrated into his analysis. So far, only one scientifical work that dealed in a related depth with lump-sum taxation in Switzerland, existed, which is namely the one of Prof. Marco Bernasconi from 1983. Already with the introduction of the StHG but with the thigthening of lump-sum taxation more than ever this existing work is outdated. Carol Gregor Luethis scientific work is closing this gap. His substantiated investigation even goes beyond existing work, with side glance

The Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook covers all key aspects of conducting business, investing and living in Switzerland. It is a unique reference manual featuring over thirty separate chapters, each of them concise and to the point, providing the information that really matters. Besides an introduction to Switzerland's historical, political, social and economic framework, the book covers the Swiss legal system, company and contract law, intellectual property law, personal and corporate taxation, VAT, international tax aspects, real estate, residence, the social security and pension system, Swiss annuities and life insurance, corporate and private banking, and other important subjects. Overview tables, useful checklists, portraits of the Swiss cantons, a bibliography, a comprehensive facts and figures section, as well as a clearly organized address section, make the handbook user-friendly and practice-oriented. The book is aimed at: Company executives who wish to have a clear overview of the legal, tax and economic framework in Switzerland Investors and entrepreneurs interested in investing and doing business in Switzerland Tax and legal advisors, business consultants and fiduciaries English-speakers living, working or doing business in Switzerland

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Accounting and Taxes, grade: 80 %, University of Glamorgan, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This essay provides a short survey of the different tax structures prevailing in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. By doing so, the basic differences and the substantial similarities within and between these three covered countries are presented. This essay commences by outlining the tax history of Germany and Switzerland. Following, the third section is concerned with the different sources of tax revenue within each above-mentioned country. In the fourth section the focus is channelled to the trends within and between Germany and Switzerland. In this regard, the trends are identified, analysed and finally compared. After outlining the different trends the concentration shifts onto any similarities and differences between and within each country. This essay concludes by summing up the main findings of the different tax structures in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

This Selected Issues paper analyzes key features of corporate taxation in Switzerland. The Swiss corporate tax system includes many aspects of a territorial regime; is highly attractive for multinational companies; and collects non-negligible revenues, but the status quo is not sustainable. The proposed reform would eliminate differences in the tax treatment of foreign and Swiss sourced income. Further, cantons are expected to lower their corporate income tax (CIT) rates, bringing the combined (municipal, cantonal, and federal) tax rate (averaged across cantons) to about 13.9 percent. Costs of lowering the CIT rates would be unequally distributed across cantons, and would be costlier for cantons with a large immobile CIT base.