Agreement amending DTA between Switzerland and France comes into force

Bern, 30.03.2016 - The agreement amending the double taxation agreement (DTA) with respect to taxes on income and capital between Switzerland and France came into force on 30 March 2016. The DTA is now fully in line with the current international standard on the exchange of information on request.

On 25 June 2014, Switzerland and France signed an agreement on administrative assistance in tax matters, which updated their bilateral DTA on income and capital. The agreement, which amends the additional protocol to the DTA, makes bilateral relations fully compliant with the OECD's international standard on administrative assistance. The governments of both countries have exchanged the corresponding notifications, thus allowing the DTA to come into force on 30 March 2016.

Taxpayers for whom France submits an individual administrative assistance request can now be identified by elements other than their name and address, something that was not possible previously under the bilateral DTA on income and capital. These requests may be considered for tax periods starting from 1 January 2010, the date on which the amended DTA came into force.

The agreement will also enable Switzerland to respond to group requests from France. Such requests are admitted for events that occurred on or after 1 February 2013, the date on which the Federal Act on International Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters came into force.