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MünzenThis section contains SFAO audits related to public finance and tax issues.

Audit Implementation of the subsidy measures agreed since 2008 - Federal Finance Administration

On behalf of the Federal Council, the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) periodically reviews federal subsidies (around CHF 38.8 billion annually, as at end of 2016) for their compliance with the principles of the Subsidies Act and for their effective and economic performance of duties. The Federal Council provides a written report on this. Before 2008, all subsidies were reviewed, since 2014 one department is reviewed per year, a report on which is included in the notes to the state financial statements.

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Audit number: 17575

Audit Mutual agreement procedure management - State Secretariat for International Finance

The State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) is the responsible authority for negotiating mutual agreement procedures with partner states on the issues of double taxation of natural persons and legal entities. Mutual agreement procedures based on double taxation agreements are intended to avoid or eliminate taxation which is contrary to an agreement. A request must be initiated by the taxpayer. At present, pending proceedings amounting to around CHF 8 billion in tax base (assessment basis on which the tax is determined) remain open to negotiation. An analysis of completed procedures shows that around a quarter of this goes to the partner state. The number of mutual agreement procedures has been increasing for years due to fiscal and political activities in Switzerland and abroad.

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Audit number: 17453

Audit 2019 fiscal equalization between the Confederation and the cantons - Examination of data processing by cantonal and federal offices

The total volume of fiscal equalization (NFE) for 2019 is CHF 5221 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.6% (CHF 5091 million). Significant equalization changes could occur from 2020 as a result of the measures proposed by the Federal Council in its evaluation report on the effectiveness of the NFE. Changes could also take place in 2024 with the corporate tax reform proposal (tax proposal 17), which provides for the abolition of special tax statutes for legal entities, among other things. Finally, at the request of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO), the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) simulated the impact of systematic taxation of cantonal banks on NFE equalization payments. However, the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) believes that there is no need to change the current tax regime.

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Audit number: 18076

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