Swiss and Italian leaders discuss cross-border tax deal
By spring, the Italian government is expected to clarify its position on a new tax system for cross-border commuters between Italy and Switzerland.
“It is a delicate issue that must be digested sufficiently, with both administrative and political evaluations. It takes time, but spring is not far away,” Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio CassisExternal link in Lugano in southern Switzerland on Monday.
The tax talks have been at a standstill for years. Cassis noted that Switzerland had been “waiting for Italy to sign since 2015”.
“Now we have confirmation that Italy will give us a clear answer by spring at the latest. It is important for us to have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to move from a climate of waiting to a climate of construction,” Cassis said after Monday’s meeting.
In addition to cross-border commuters, the two leaders talked about issues such as financial services, migrants, relations with Europe, and the situation of Campione d’Italia – an Italian enclave hit by the bankruptcy of the municipal casino. Milanesi has guaranteed the CHF4 million ($4.07 million) of debt that the enclave owes to the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino.
“It was an important day between two nations geographically and historically close. Between Italy and Switzerland there is a real and potential synergy that we can only cultivate,” Milanesi said. This was the first meeting between the two men.
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