Switzerland has exchanged information on more than 3.3 million financial accounts with 96 countries within the framework of the global standard on the automatic exchange of information, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration said in an October 11 release.
Bern, 11.10.2021 — The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has exchanged information on financial accounts with 96 countries. The exchange took place within the framework of the global standard on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI).
This year, the AEOI involved a total of 96 countries. Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Dominica, Ghana, Lebanon, Macau, Pakistan, Qatar, Samoa and Vauatu were added to the existing list of 86 countries. With 70 countries, the exchange of information was reciprocal. In the case of 26 countries, Switzerland received information but did not provide any, either because those countries do not yet meet the international requirements on confidentiality and data security (14) or because they chose not to receive data (12). Currently, around 8,500 reporting financial institutions (banks, trusts, insurers, etc.) are registered with the FTA. These institutions collected the data and transferred it to the FTA. The FTA sent information on around 3.3 million financial accounts to the partner states and received information on around 2.1 financial accounts from them. The FTA cannot provide any information on the amount of financial assets. Switzerland has committed itself to adopting the global standard for the international automatic exchange of information in tax matters. The legal basis for the implementation of the AEOI in Switzerland came into force on 1 January 2017. Identification, account and financial information is exchanged, including name, address, country of residence and tax identification number, as well information concerning the reporting financial institution, account balance and capital income. The exchanged information allows the cantonal tax authorities to verify whether taxpayers have correctly declared their financial accounts abroad in their tax returns. The OECD's Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) reviews the implementation of the AEOI.