Council of States supports Pillar Two implementation Council of States supports Pillar Two implementation

With confirmed support for Pillar Two from the Council of States, Switzerland takes a step further in implementing global minimum tax.

Switzerland is in the process of implementing the global minimum taxation (Pillar Two) agreed by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework by amending the constitution. See further information here.

The implementation process has taken another step: on 28 September 2022 the Council of States approved the proposal of the Federal Council to amend the constitution, including temporary arrangements with basic parameters that empower the government to release the respective (temporary) implementing ordinances, expected as of January 2024. 

The political debate in the chamber mainly focused on the allocation of the expected tax revenues from the top-up tax to be introduced. Whereas a minority proposed to allocate a larger proportion to the Federation, the Council of States decided to follow the proposal of the government to have an allocation key of 25% to the Federation and 75% to the cantons. 

Switzerland is on track to implement the global minimum taxation by 2024 in line with the OECD’s current plan. In addition, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands issued a joint statement on 9 September 2022 to express full commitment "to implement the global minimum effective taxation in 2023" (expected effective date as of 2024). Accordingly, Switzerland’s intended implementation timeline matches the plans of (most) other countries. 

The second chamber, the National Council, will debate on the proposal in December 2022. If also accepted, the amendment of the constitution will be put to public vote in June 2023. If then confirmed, the Federal Council will go ahead and implement minimum taxation, likely as of 1 January 2024. 

Considering the timeline and progress so far, companies should now analyze how and to what extent minimum taxation affects them. 

We continue to follow Pillar Two developments in Switzerland closely and will share our take on implementation as it progresses.