The Swiss government has informed 12 banks and one fiduciary firm that they need to co-operate with US tax authorities about client information.
The request from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cited the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) as the reason for compliance.
Switzerland and the US ratified the double taxation agreement, including the application of the US legislation in the country, in September 2019.
The institutions in question are:
- Arofin;
- Bank Vontobel;
- Banque Pictet & Cie;
- Barclays Bank (Suisse);
- CA Indosuez (Switzerland) / Crédit Agricole (Suisse);
- FIBI (Suisse) – in liquidation;
- Hinduja Banque (Suisse);
- Mirabaud & Cie;
- Notenstein La Roche Privatbank;
- PKB Privatbank;
- Schroder & Co Bank;
- Union Bancaire Privée; and,
- Zuger Kantonalbank.
20-day deadline
The Switzerland government, translated from Swiss, said on 1 December: “Information is requested concerning accounts that were identified as US accounts or as accounts of non-participating financial institutions to which foreign reportable amounts had been paid.
“The specified US persons and non-participating financial institutions concerned by one or more of these group requests, as well as any other parties to the account relationships concerned, may submit their opinion on the intended transmission of their data to the IRS within 20 days after publication of this notification.
“The same applies to the legal successors of any deceased contracting parties to the account relationships concerned.
“The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) will issue a final decree for each account relationship concerned by a group request. If the delivery of the final decree is requested, the persons mentioned are required to provide the FTA with their Swiss address if they are domiciled in Switzerland, or to designate a person in Switzerland authorised to receive service if they are domiciled abroad.
“Legal successors of deceased contracting parties to the account relationships concerned must also submit a certificate of inheritance to the FTA.
“If a person entitled to appeal does not consent to the simplified procedure, and has not notified the FTA of a Swiss address or a person in Switzerland authorised to receive service, the FTA notifies the final decree on an anonymous basis by a publication in the Federal Gazette and on its website.”
