Switzerland Steps Up Plans To Abolish Stamp Duty

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

13 February 2012

The Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation (CEAT) of the Swiss National Council has recently announced that it has adopted a bill providing for a revision of the federal law on stamp duty.

The bill aims to implement the parliamentary initiative pertaining to the progressive abolition of stamp duty in the Confederation, submitted by the radical Liberal party on December 10, 2009.

The Committee emphasizes that the bill in question is concerned solely with the first point of the initiative, namely to abolish issuance stamp duty, to improve the Confederation as a location and to create jobs. The abolition of the insurance premium tax and sales tax is planned for later.

Switzerland’s Federal Council decided at the end of last year to abolish the issuance tax on foreign capital within the framework of the “too-big-to-fail” project, and to abolish the duty on own capital within the framework of the third reform of corporation tax (Unternehmenssteuerreform III).

The decision was taken following careful examination of the federal tax authority’s July 1, 2011, report into the progressive abolition of stamp duty in Switzerland, as part of plans to improve the fiscal framework of the Swiss financial centre.

The study examined how and when stamp duty could be abolished, as well as evaluating measures to finance the proposals and considering the efficiency of the levies and their effects on the attractiveness of the Swiss financial centre.

The parliamentary initiative and bill will now serve to up the tempo. The bill remains open for consultation until May 10, 2012.

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