Switzerland Signs The BEPS-Convention

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('Multilateral Instrument',MLI) was signed by 68 jurisdictions, among them Switzerland, on 7 June 2017 in Paris. Nine further jurisdictions have signed a letter expressing their intention to sign the MLI. The signing ceremony marks an important milestone in the international tax agenda and brings us closer to the goals defined in the BEPS Action Plan.

Background

After the publication and subsequent endorsement of the final BEPS package by the G20 Finance Ministers in October 2015 it became clear that in order to implement some of the measures, it would be neces- sary to modify the existing double-tax treaties. Against this background, a group of over 100 countries and jurisdictions drafted a multilateral convention, which allows an efficient transposition of the results from the BEPS project into their existing bilateral treaty network. The text of this