zsis) - Center for Swiss and International Tax Law

The "Future Initiative" aims to tax the assets of natural persons through an additional inheritance and gift tax at federal level. With an exemption amount of CHF 50 million, the tax affects wealthy individuals. The proposed tax rate was set at 50%, without providing for exceptions to taxation. Due to the existing inheritance and gift taxes, this could lead to a much higher effective tax burden. Numerous unresolved questions and a planned retroactive effect are already causing great uncertainty well before a referendum at the beginning of 2026. This article uses examples to illustrate possible consequences and measures for action.

As part of its management and financial responsibility, the Board of Directors is obliged to monitor the financial situation of its company. If a company gets into financial difficulties, it must take measures to avert insolvency or at least prevent the damage from increasing. The revised Stock Corporation Act, which came into force on January 1, 2023, imposes specific duties on the board of directors in the event of imminent insolvency, half capital loss and over-indebtedness. This article deals with the legal requirements and shows to what extent the revision has brought changes to these restructuring-related provisions and what new questions arise in practice.

This article first explains the different concepts of the need for reorganization under commercial law and tax law as well as the requirements for the tax recognition of the assumption of loss carryforwards in the context of a reorganization merger between sister companies. The tax consequences for the merged companies and for the joint shareholders are then also examined using examples.

A distressed company can be restructured in various ways. Balance sheet restructuring measures that do not provide the company with any external funds are not subject to the issue tax. Financial restructuring measures, on the other hand, are subject to the issuance stamp duty of one percent if they are carried out in return for the issue of participation rights or if shareholders make a contribution.

In the area of capital contributions, two landmark Federal Supreme Court rulings were issued last year. In a first ruling, the Federal Supreme Court also applied an income tax-free repayment within the meaning of Art. 20 para. 3 DBG with regard to hidden capital contributions. In a second ruling last year, the Federal Supreme Court protected the practice of the FTA, according to which the accounting offsetting of a contribution against the loss carryforwards is mandatory in order to claim the restructuring allowance pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. k StG.

In difficult economic times, many companies are faced with considerable financial challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic in particular has led to a number of companies needing to be restructured despite the aid granted, such as loans or hardship compensation. Restructuring a company is a complex process that requires not only strategic and operational measures, but also careful consideration of legal and tax aspects. After all, restructuring a company can lead to significant tax consequences.

On January 1, 2024, Switzerland partially introduced the OECD minimum tax by means of the Minimum Tax Ordinance (MindStV). The implementation of the global legal requirements poses considerable challenges for companies due to the complexity of the regulations and the technical implementation in the accounting systems. For this reason, many companies fall back on safe harbor regulations provided by the OECD. In this context, the following article examines whether these also apply to investment entities that are part of the corporate group.

On July 12, 2023, Liechtenstein and Italy signed a double taxation agreement (DTA). The agreement is based on the international standard of the OECD Model Tax Convention 2017, takes into account the results of the BEPS project and follows the agreement on the exchange of information (TIEA) that was concluded with Italy in 2015. The DTA increases legal certainty, leads to significant withholding tax reductions, reduces existing barriers to investment and financing and will make a decisive contribution to further strengthening cooperation between the two countries.