1. Tax
1.1 Tax Regimes
General Principles
The Swiss tax system includes three taxation levels, namely
federal, cantonal and communal. The federal tax system is generally
common to all taxpayers and besides income tax includes value added
tax (VAT) and withholding tax (eg, on dividend payments). There is
no wealth tax at federal level.
Due to the federal system in Switzerland, each of the 26 cantons
has its own tax system. Most of the tax laws in the cantons were
harmonised in 1995. However, the cantons still have a large degree
of independence, particularly regarding tax rates and the
interpretation of the tax laws. This results in significant
taxation differences and tax competition between the cantons (see
3 Trusts, Foundations and Similar
Entities below on tax rates and special tax
regimes).
