Swiss Revenue Retained On Behalf Of EU Down
The gross revenue generated from the system of tax retention on interest payments made in Switzerland to European Union (EU) taxpayers was down from CHF510.1m (USD542.9m) in 2013 to CHF317m in the 2014 tax year.
In compliance with the agreement with the EU on the taxation of savings, in force since July 2005, a withholding tax rate of 20 percent was imposed on such payments from July 2008. Since July 2011, a rate of 35 percent has been applied. 75 percent of the proceeds are passed to the EU member states concerned. The remaining 25 percent of the proceeds go to the Swiss Confederation, with ten percent of this figure transferred to the cantons.
The payment deadline for the EU tax retained in 2014 by Swiss paying agents on interest payments to individuals resident in EU member states expired on March 31, 2015. CHF237.8m will be transferred to EU member states. Switzerland’s share amounts to CHF79.2m, of which CHF71.3m will be transferred to the Confederation and CHF7.9m to the cantons.
The savings tax agreement also makes provision for the recipients of interest payments to choose between the system of tax retention and a voluntary declaration to the tax authorities. In 2014, approximately 150,000 declarations were received.
