The Swiss tax system got good marks overall in the report of the group of experts working on Switzerland as a tax location, which is made up of representatives from the Confederation, the cantons, businesses and the scientific community. The Federal Department of Finance (FDF) intends to present measures to the Federal Council by the end of June.
In its report, the group of experts praised the tax culture and recommended nurturing its strengths. However, it also identified potential for improvement and defined a total of 16 areas of action aimed at strengthening Switzerland as a business location. Among other things, the group of experts sees potential in the further promotion of research and development, a reduction in taxes that are detrimental to a company's asset base, an expansion of ecological incentive fees, and in the expansion of loss offsetting, which is currently limited to seven years. Legislative procedures are already under way in the case of some areas of action, e.g. the reform of the withholding tax on interest, the abolition of the issue tax on equity capital, the partial abolition of transfer stamp tax and the introduction of tonnage taxation.
The group of experts was instructed by Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer to draw up areas of action to strengthen Switzerland as a tax location. The aim is to improve the framework conditions for the private sector and to position Switzerland as an attractive investment location. The FDF intends to submit measures based on the recommendations of the group of experts to the Federal Council for a decision by the end of June.