Following the assessment of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes on the implementation in Switzerland of the standard for the international automatic exchange of information in tax matters (AEOI standard), on November 11 2020, the Swiss Federal Council approved the amended Ordinance on the International Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters (AEOIO).

The Ordinance will be enforced from 1 January 2021 together with the amendment to the Federal Act on the International Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters (AEOIA), and it will introduce the following measures:

Swiss condominium associations will have to disclose information on apartment owners, many of whom are foreign property investors;
Swiss financial institutions will also be required to retain documents that could be useful for tax investigations;
amounts will be stated in US dollars and a document retention obligation will be introduced for reporting Swiss financial institutions.

Foundations and non-profit associations will instead remain exempt from reporting accounts for AEOI, as will digital currency accounts. The Federal Tax Administration will also retain the right to suspend AEOI with a third state whose confidentiality and security practices are deemed unsatisfactory.

SOURCE: www.admin.ch