Swiss people reject abolition of emissions levy
Yesterday, the Swiss people clearly rejected the bill "Amendment of the Federal Act on Stamp Duty" with 62.7%.
The previous system thus remains in force unchanged. Accordingly, the issuance and increase of domestic equity securities (shares, capital contributions, cooperative shares, etc.) for or without consideration is still subject to the issue tax of 1% above a one-time exemption limit of CHF 1 million and apart from the legally standardised exceptions such as restructurings. Grants and contributions made by shareholders without issuing equity securities also remain taxable.
The tax team at Gfeller + Partner AG will be happy to advise you on the timely and formal declaration of the emissions levy as well as on the examination of whether a specific individual case is an exceptional circumstance that is fully or partially exempt from the emissions levy (e.g. reorganisation, restructuring). Do not hesitate to contact us.
Outlook
The now rejected revision of the Federal Stamp Duty Act concerned the issue duty; the turnover and insurance duties were not part of the referendum bill.
On 17 December 2021, Parliament passed a reform of the withholding tax and stamp duties. The reform is intended in particular to strengthen the Swiss capital market. The central points of the reform are the abolition without replacement of the withholding tax on interest on newly issued bonds and the abolition of the turnover tax on domestic bonds. The turnover tax on the sale of participations is also to be abolished.
Provided there is no referendum against the bill, the abolition of withholding tax on bond interest will come into force on 1 January 2023. The Federal Council will determine the entry into force for the remaining provisions of the reform. We will be happy to keep you informed about this and other legislative revisions on this channel or during a personal discussion.