Switzerland retains SFr324 million tax for EU
The tax take from interest on savings held in Switzerland by European Union taxpayers fell by 19 per cent from 2009 to 2010, Swiss finance ministry figures reveal.
The gross revenue generated from the system of tax retention on interest payments amounted to SFr432 million ($561.4 million) for the tax year 2010, compared with SFr534.8 million in 2009.
In line with the agreement on the taxation of savings with the EU, 75 per cent of the proceeds of the tax retention system was passed to the member states concerned. One third of the total went to Germany.
Of the SFr324 million transferred to the EU, Germany received SFr108 million, Italy SFr57 million and France SFr47 million. Spain, Britain and Belgium were fourth, fifth and sixth on the list in order of scale of payments.
The agreement also makes provision for the recipients of interest payments to choose between the system of tax retention (currently at a rate of 20 per cent) and a voluntary declaration to the tax authorities. Some 38,000 declarations were received in 2010.
A breakdown of these declarations by member state will be published at the end of the month, a finance ministry statement said.
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