With the help of the global standard for the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts (AEOI) tax transparency should be increased and cross-border tax evasion and should be prevented. The global standard makes provision for the mutual exchange of information on financial accounts between states and territories that have agreed among themselves to the AEOI. Aside from Switzerland, over 100 states and territories, including all major financial centres, have declared their intention to adopt the standard.
Switzerland usually implements the AEOI according to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA). Bilateral treaties on the AEOI have been concluded with the EU, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The legal basis for the AEOI entered into force on 1 January 2017. The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) is responsible for the implementation of the AEOI.
The list of the activated bilateral exchange relationships of all states and territories can be viewed on the OECD website. The following list contains the AEOI partner states of Switzerland. It is kept regularly up to date and has priority over the list of the OECD (as at 13.12.2018):
| Partner state |
Approval1 | Entry into force2 |
|---|---|---|
| Andorra | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Anguilla3 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Antigua and Barbuda4 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Argentina | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Aruba5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Australia | 15.076 | 01.01.2017 |
| Bahamas3 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Bahrain3 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Barbados | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Belize5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Bermuda3 |
17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Brazil | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| British Virgin Islands3 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Canada | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Cayman Islands3 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Chile | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| China (People's Republic) | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Colombia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Cook Islands5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Costa Rica5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Curaçao5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| European Union6,7 | 15.081 | 01.01.2017 |
| Faroe Islands | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Greenland | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Grenada5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Guernesey | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Hong Kong8 | 18.055 | 01.01.2018 |
| Isle of Man | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Iceland | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| India | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Indonesia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Israel9 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Japan | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Jersey | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Kuwait3 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Liechtenstein | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Malaysia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Marshall Islands3 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Mauritius | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Mexiko | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Monaco | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Montserrat5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Nauru3 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| New Zealand | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Norway | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Overseas municipalities of the NL (Bonaire, Saint Eustatius, Saba) | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Panama5 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Qatar3,4 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Russia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Lucia5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines5 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| San Marino | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saudi Arabia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Seychelles | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Singapore8 | 18.055 | 01.01.2018 |
| South Africa | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| South Korea | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Turks und Caicos Islands3 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| United Arab Emirates3 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Uruguay | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
1: Item number for parliamentary deliberations.
2: From the date of entry into force on 1 January of a certain year a jurisdiction is considered as a participating jurisdiction. Since then the financial institutions subject to the reporting requirement will collect – with the reservations of notes 3 and 4 – account information concerning persons resident for tax purposes in the respective partner jurisdictions from this date. This information will be exchanged between the competent authorities for the first time in the following year.
3: These jurisdictions have declared themselves to be "permanent non-reciprocal jurisdictions", i. e. they will supply account information to the partner jurisdictions on a permanent basis but will not receive such data.
4: As the convention on the mutual administrative assistance in tax matters will enter into force in 2019 in these partner jurisdictions, it will be applicable to taxable periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020. Therefore, the first exchange of information will be carried out in 2021.
5: These partner jurisdictions must implement a Global Forum action plan on confidentiality and data security. There will be no reciprocal exchange of data until this action plan has been successfully implemented. Reporting Swiss financial institutions must nevertheless collect the relevant data from the time of activation of the AEOI and forward it to the Federal Tax Administration by the specified deadline. The FTA will transmit this data to the partner jurisdictions only if they have satisfactorily implemented their action plan and an updated Global Forum review has confirmed this.
6: The bilateral AEOI agreement with the EU applies for all 28 EU member states and is also applicable for the Åland Islands, the Azores, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, La Réunion and Saint Martin.
7: Cyprus and Romania must implement a Global Forum action plan on confidentiality and data security. The comments in note 5 apply also to these two countries.
8: Switzerland has signed bilateral agreements with Hong Kong and Singapore regarding the introduction of the AEOI from 2018/2019. The agreements are provisionally applied since 1 January 2018.
9: Israel has not adopted its national implementation legislation yet. As this constitutes a key condition for the introduction of the AEOI, the implementation of AEOI with Israel has to be postponed for one year (2019/2020 and not 2018/2019 as originally foreseen).
Further information
Last modification 28.02.2019