THEVOZ & Partners LLC is an international law firm with offices in Switzerland (Lausanne) and the US (New York and Honolulu). We primarily advise our clients in the fields of tax law, commercial law and banking law. Our clients are mainly entrepreneurs, local and international companies, as well as individuals. As an example of my work, I am currently advising an international real estate group with companies in Switzerland and in other European countries on the Swiss tax aspects of its restructuring. Another case I am working on with my American colleagues concerns an American citizen living in Switzerland who has inherited an important amount from an American trust.

After obtaining a bilingual (French German) Master’s degree in Law from the University of Fribourg in 2003, I passed the Swiss bar exam in 2006. I started specialising in tax law in 2007 when I was hired by a leading law firm based in Zurich. I became a Swiss-certified tax expert in 2013. In 2019, I joined THEVOZ & Partners LLC, where I am now the Partner in charge of the Swiss tax desk. In addition, I am a member of several lawyers’ and tax consultants’ associations, including EXPERTsuisse, Switzerland’s largest accountants, auditors and tax consultants’ association. I am a regular contributor to the Swiss online newsletter “iusNet”, which gives access to summaries of new case law and updates on changes to legislation. Meanwhile, THEVOZ & Partners LLC has been on the list of Switzerland’s best tax law firms published by two well-known Swiss business newspapers since 2022.

Our law firm is in an expansion phase, and so the workload is quite heavy at the moment. Several of our clients are asking questions about the soundness of their group structure from a tax point of view and, more specifically, about the substance requirements that their foreign companies must meet in order to be eligible for the benefits of the double tax treaties.

In Switzerland, corporate taxes are levied at three levels, i.e. at the federal, cantonal and municipal level. Swiss tax resident companies are subject to income tax and capital tax. Income tax is levied at all three levels, whereas capital tax is levied at cantonal and municipal levels only. The cantonal and municipal income and capital tax rates vary from canton to canton, and from municipality to municipality. The effective combined income tax rates currently range between approximately 11.8% and 22.0%, depending on the cantons and municipalities. The current capital tax rates vary from approximately 0.001% to 0.5%. As a rule, income tax is levied on the net income as shown in the yearly statutory accounts. Tax expenses are fully deductible from taxable income, while amortisations, provisions and interest expenses are deductible from taxable income if they are commercially justified. Profit realised during a tax period may be offset against losses realised during the last seven tax periods. Losses may not be carried back and offset against previous profits. Furthermore, dividends and capital gains deriving from qualifying participations benefit from an indirect tax exemption.

The main difficulty is that many of the rules derive from the practice of the authorities and the case law. It is often difficult for taxpayers to be aware of all the written rules and, even more so, of all the unwritten practices. Accordingly, we make our clients aware of tax risks and help them to make the best decisions when it comes to structuring their business. We also represent our clients before the tax authorities and the tax courts when they are facing tax proceedings. Moreover, when our clients wish to have certainty about the tax treatment of a planned, tax-relevant situation, we prepare and negotiate tax rulings with the tax authorities.

Switzerland is an attractive location for foreign investments because of the moderate income tax rates applicable to companies, its exhaustive network of double tax treaties – which currently covers approximately 100 countries (including all European countries) – and the stability of its tax system (tax laws are not changed every time there is a new government, as this is the case in some countries). The interest of foreign acquirers/investors in investing in Switzerland has not decreased in recent years, and remains high.

The government’s will to fight tax evasion and tax loopholes is understandable. However, care must be taken not to deprive companies, and international groups in particular, of any room for manoeuvre in structuring their businesses. One shall avoid creating overly complex rules that inevitably create uncertainty for economic players.

There are currently no significant tax reform projects in the field of corporate taxation in Switzerland. As for the taxation of individuals, however, an important tax reform has been launched. At present, married couples are taxed jointly while unmarried persons are taxed individually, which may lead to unequal tax treatment. The tax reform’s goal is to switch from joint taxation of married couples to individual taxation. This will be a radical change to the Swiss tax system for individuals.