Deloitte conducted a survey of Heads of Tax / senior tax professionals of large multinational companies operating in Switzerland to understand:

• their views and assessments of the forthcoming changes
• how these changes might impact the perceived attractiveness of Switzerland as a business location
  

Business factors that are important to organisations and how Switzerland scores accordingly

• Switzerland scores very highly for having a stable, political and legal environment, busines friendly authorities, very well-developed infrastructure and a high quality of life
• The country scores less well in terms of the cost of doing business and in terms of ease of access to talent – be that at a local or global level

Is the global minimum tax rate a threat or an opportunity for Switzerland?

• Over 75% of respondents believe the global minimum tax rate will pose a threat to Switzerland`s attractiveness, with 49% describing it as “definitively a threat”
• However, 9% feel it represents an opportunity with a further 14% believing its impact on competitiveness will be neutral

• While the majority perceive that the attractiveness of Switzerland as a business location for various functions will remain unchanged
• Those functions that are expected to be most adversely affected are high quality manufacturing, procurement, R&D and intellectual property management
  

• The introduction of a global minimum tax rate of 15% is likely to result in additional tax revenue for the authorities

• The survey respondents would like the following actions to be taken in lieu of this additional revenue: abolition of Swiss withholding taxes, reduction in social security costs and an increase in R&D subsidies

The abolition of the Swiss withholding tax as a compensation for the global minimum tax would be a win-win solution and would give the economy an additional boost within a few years.

                Reto Gerber, Head of Tax at Deloitte Switzerland