The Swiss Banking Association (SBA) said on Friday that the implementation of the tax agreement, which was first struck in August 2011, is proceeding on schedule but that “less tax than expected is being transferred to the UK by means of the one-off payment”.
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“First indications from selected banks in Switzerland show that there are fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed,” the SBA said in a statement.
“This is mainly due to the fact that many clients have resident non-domiciled status. These clients are not liable to taxation in the UK and thus do not fall under the agreement. Furthermore, numerous UK clients have opted for voluntary disclosure, which comes as no surprise given the latest developments in Switzerland with regard to the announced adoption of a global standard for the automatic exchange of information.”
The SBA added that, as a result of these two developments, less tax than expected is likely to be transferred to the UK and that “the possibility can therefore not be ruled out that either none or only a small part of the banks’ guarantee payment of CHF 500m (£340m, €400m) will be recovered”.
