The European Union and Switzerland have initialed an agreement on the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI). The first exchange is scheduled for 2018 after all account data is collected from the onset of 2017.
On 19 March 2015, the agreement was initialed by Jacques de Watteville, the Swiss State Secretary, Dominique Paravinci, the Deputy Director of the Switzerland’s Directorate for European Affairs and Heinz Zourek, the Head of EU Directorate General on Tax and Customs Union.
The agreement which is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, will replace the savings tax agreement that has been in force since 2005 and extends to all 28 member states of the EU.
As provided in the AEOI agreement, EU member states and Switzerland will be required to exchange account information automatically on a reciprocal basis annually. Such information exchanged will include the name, address, date of birth, tax identification number, and an extensive amount of financial and account balance information about EU taxpayers from both parties.
Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici commented that “We are taking a decisive step towards total tax transparency between Switzerland and the EU. I am confident that our other neighbours will soon follow suit. This transparency is vital to ensure that each country can collect the tax revenue due”.
It is intended for the deal between the EU and Switzerland to come into force on 1st January 2017.
