The Swiss voted to pass a law permitting third generation immigrants to obtain Swiss citizenship much simpler and quicker, on the referendum undertaken on February 12 2017.
Subsidiaries are legal entities with capital that is partially or totally owned by foreign companies. However, the management of the subsidiary is not conditioned by the foreign capital, and the entity is able to handle business contracts, hire employees or issue and transfer shares.
Double taxation refers to the fact that two countries collect simultaneously taxes on the same company. This situation often arises when companies have subsidiaries or branches in various countries.
The Swiss tax system is characterized by various levels of direct taxation: direct federal tax, cantonal taxes and municipal taxes. The tax legislation in the individual Swiss cantons is often very different from one canton to another.
Since the establishment of the Bilateral Agreements between Switzerland and the European Union, citizens from the EU residing in Switzerland for profit – making purposes, have a legal claim to the access to the Swiss labor market, given that all the required legal conditions are met. The agreements also apply to the states that are members of the European Free Trade Association.
The taxes in Switzerland can be divided into three major categories: federal taxes, cantonal taxes and municipal taxes. In order to avoid overlapping taxation, Switzerland has concluded double taxation agreements with most industrialized countries, to protect foreign investors from double taxation.
