The Swiss Federal Council has initiated a public consultation on selecting partner states for the automatic exchange of information regarding cryptoassets on Wednesday, 14 August 2024.
The Federal Council wants to use the bill to determine when Switzerland should automatically exchange information on cryptoassets with which partner states.
The consultation procedure will close on 15 November 2024.
In May 2024, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on extending the international automatic exchange of information in tax matters (AEOI). The expansion involves, among other things, the new AEOI concerning cryptoassets and is due to come into force on 1 January 2026.
Cryptoassets are digital assets based on a distributed ledger or similar technology. The consultation will last until 6 September 2024.
With the current bill, the Federal Council is proposing which of the 111 states and territories with which Switzerland has activated the AEOI should automatically exchange information on cryptoassets from 2026, and with which partner states the AEOI concerning cryptoassets could be implemented at a later date.
An actual exchange only takes place if the partner states are interested in exchanging information with Switzerland and if they fulfil the requirements of the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework.
Prior to the automatic exchange of data on cryptoassets, the Federal Council will also review whether the partner states with which the AEOI has been activated continue to fulfil the standard’s requirements. To this end, the review mechanism will also cover the AEOI concerning cryptoassets in future, which will require the 2017 federal decree to be completely revised accordingly.
