"Also a process and structural issue"

The final withholding tax agreement must be implemented quickly, as financial intermediaries and clients have many questions. To clarify this, two fact sheets have been produced to answer practical questions about regularization in the past and future procedures. These fact sheets are based on the Federal Tax Administration's guidelines on the withholding tax agreements with the UK and Austria and are being drafted by a working group from the business community and the administration. The drafts will be made available to an extended consultation group. A comparison with the Austrian authorities is planned in order to avoid surprises. At the same time, work is being carried out on the implementing legislation, which will contain regulations on the relationship between paying agents and the tax administration, the rights and obligations of paying agents as well as procedural regulations and penal provisions. Work is also underway on the technical implementation to ensure the smooth processing of reports and transfers.

Topics in the publication

• Implementation of the withholding tax agreement
• Cooperation and consultation
• Implementation legislation
• Technical implementation
• Challenges and opportunities
• Experience from the Swiss banking market