Tax transparency should be increased and cross-border tax evasion and should be prevented with the help of the global standard for the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts (AEOI). 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.
The legal basis for the AEOI was approved by The Federal Assembly in December 2015. It entered into force on 1 January 2017.
Switzerland generally implements the AEOI on the basis of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA). Bilateral treaties have been concluded with the EU, Hong Kong and Singapore as the basis for the AEOI.
The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) is responsible for the implementation of the AEOI. Information is available on the FTA website.
The list of all bilateral exchange relationships can be viewed on the OECD website.
To date, Switzerland has agreed to the AEOI with the following partner states:
| Partner state |
Approval1 | Entry into force2 |
|---|---|---|
| Andorra | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Anguilla 4,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Antigua and Barbuda8 | 17.040 | --3 |
| Argentina | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Aruba8 | 17.040 | --3 |
| Australia | 15.076 | 01.01.2017 |
| Bahamas 4,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Bahrain 4,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Barbados | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Belize8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Bermuda4 |
17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Brazil | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| British Virgin Islands4 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Canada | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Cayman Islands4 | 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 Islands8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Costa Rica8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Curaçao8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| European Union5 and 9 | 15.081 | 01.01.2017 |
| Faroe Islands | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Greenland | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Grenada8 | 17.040 | --3 |
| Guernesey | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Hong Kong6 | 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 |
| Israel | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Japan | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Jersey | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Kuwait 4,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Liechtenstein | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Malaysia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Marshall Islands4 | 17.040 | --7 |
| Mauritius | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Mexiko | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Monaco | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Montserrat8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Nauru 4,10 | 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)10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Panama 8,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Qatar 4,10 | 18.055 | 01.01.2019 |
| Russia | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Lucia8 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines8 | 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 |
| Singapore6 | 18.055 | 01.01.2018 |
| South Africa | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| South Korea (South Korea) | 16.057 | 01.01.2017 |
| Turks und Caicos Islands4 | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
| United Arab Emirates4 | 17.040 | 01.01.2019 |
| Uruguay | 17.040 | 01.01.2018 |
1: Item number for parliamentary deliberations.
2: Entry into force on 1 January 2017/2018/2019 means that the financial institutions subject to the reporting requirement will collect account information concerning persons resident for tax purposes in the respective partner states from this date. This information collected in 2017/2018/2019 will be exchanged between the competent authorities for the first time in the autumn of 2018/2019/2020, respectively.
3: These states and territories do not meet the requirements of the global AEOI standard at present and have postponed the introduction of the AEOI.
4: These states and territories have declared themselves to be "permanent non-reciprocal jurisdictions", i.e. they will supply account information to the partner states on a permanent basis but will not receive such data.
5: 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, Réunion and Saint Martin.
6: Switzerland has signed bilateral agreements with Hong Kong and Singapore regarding the introduction of the AEOI from 2018/2019. The agreements will be applied provisionally from 1 January 2018. Parliament will deliberate on the approval of the agreements in 2018.
7: These states have not yet submitted their partner state notifications. The AEOI will thus be activated at a later date.
8: These partner states 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 states only if they have satisfactorily implemented their action plan and an updated Global Forum review has confirmed this.
9: Cyprus and Romania must implement a Global Forum action plan on confidentiality and data security. The comments in note 8 apply also to these two countries.
10: Still has to be approved by Parliament.
Further information
Last modification 11.09.2018