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 ( ow on tax rates and special tax regimes).

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