Tax and Legal blog
Stay up to date with the latest tax and legal issues and developments that may affect you and your business.
Explore the Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2023
How to become a Swiss national: a brief summary of the ordinary naturalisation process in Switzerland
Switzerland is famous for its delicious chocolate and cheese, stunning mountain landscapes, and its love of winter sports. From an immigration perspective Switzerland has one of the most powerful passports in the world, giving the passport holder access to 125 countries without the need to obtain a visa. Switzerland is also very attractive to immigrants because of its political and economic stability and high standard of living. But Switzerland also has some of the strictest naturalisation laws in the world, making the process often lengthy and challenging, even for those who have lived in Switzerland their entire life.
Join our Immigration Academy Workshops - only few seats left
Sign up for our Immigration Academy half-day workshops. This year we will be joined by the State Secretary for Migration (SEM) and together we will provide updates and discuss the latest developments in the field of immigration.
Join our insightful upcoming VAT Hybrid breakfast event on 16 March 2023 - simultaneously in Zurich, Geneva and virtually
We would like to invite you to our upcoming VAT Breakfast Event which will provide an update on recent Swiss and international VAT developments and upcoming changes. The event will take place on Thursday 16 March 2023 - at the same time in our Zurich and Geneva offices as well as online.
Same but different: a comparison of the OECD CARF and the EU DAC8 proposal
The emergence and rise of alternative methods of payment and investments such as crypto-assets and e-money has heightened global regulators’ interest. This has prompted the publication of various proposals and frameworks to ensure that the recent gains on tax transparency do not get lost and due taxes are paid.
Increase in VAT rates effective from January 1, 2024 – final guidelines published by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (VAT Info No 19)
As announced in our blog published on 26 September 2022, public voters have decided to increase VAT rates to finance “Current-age and survivors” insurance. On 7 February 2023 the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) published VAT Info 19 which includes the respective guidelines and transition rules.
Join our Global Workforce Solutions Webinar on 28 February 2023 on Sustainability in Global Mobility
Join our Global Workforce Solutions webinar on 'Sustainability in Global Mobility' on Tuesday, 28 February 2023 from 08:30 to 10:00 CET. The webinar will provide insights on how we are seeing companies incorporate sustainability within their Global Mobility function and what best practice can look like.
OECD releases Pillar Two Administrative Guidance
On 2 February 2023, the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS (inclusive framework) released a package of technical and administrative guidance (“administrative guidance”) related to the 15% global minimum tax on multinational corporations known as Pillar Two (or the global anti-base erosion (“GloBE”) rules). The guidance was agreed by consensus of all 142 countries and jurisdictions in the OECD/G20 inclusive framework and forms part of the “common approach.” Under the common approach, countries are not required to adopt the GloBE rules but, if they choose to do so, they agree to implement and administer the rules in a way that is consistent with the outcomes provided for under the Pillar Two model rules and any subsequent guidance agreed by the inclusive framework.
Swiss safe harbour intercompany interest rates for 2023 announced
On 7 and 8 February 2023, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (“SFTA”) published the Swiss safe harbour interest rates applicable for the year 2023, both for intercompany (“IC”) loans and advances denominated in Swiss francs (Circular Letter No. 203) as well as in foreign currencies (Circular Letter No. 204). These rates are used by the SFTA to determine the arm’s length nature of interest on intragroup loan receivables or payables and provide a level of tax certainty from a Swiss tax perspective, in absence of a bespoke arm’s length comparability analysis.
Deloitte Finance Day 2023 - The colours of finance - design your future capability - 1 June 2023 in Zurich
Swiss Immigration Update Simplification of Process for Non-EU/EFTA Nationals
At the beginning of 2022 a series of measures were announced by the Swiss Federal Council to optimise the admission of qualified specialists from third countries (Non-EU/EFTA). The aim of these potential changes was to simplify the immigration process for certain groups of individuals and thus strengthen the Swiss economy. Now the Swiss government has published the new directives outlining more details about these changes, which are coming into effect immediately.