Finance Minister Ueli Maurer calls for a digital tax on Internet corporations

"We will not be able to avoid taxing digital services in the future," explains Maurer in an interview with the Handelszeitung. We do not want to allow Switzerland to be deprived of its tax base. Two models are possible: either a tax is levied on the turnover of internet companies to compensate for the insufficient profit tax. Or the location of the digital business establishment could be defined. The federal government is currently considering how to solve the problem. They are also active within the OECD.

Maurer wants to push ahead with digitalization in his department. He has just launched a future lab "in collaboration with scientists and clever people". His department is currently testing an app there that will make it easier for banks to automatically exchange information. The aim is to save millions in costs.

At the same time, he wants to launch a customs app on a trial basis at the beginning of the year, which citizens can use to declare imported goods online. This will allow VAT amounts that are refunded in Germany to be debited at customs in Switzerland. In this way, Maurer wants to recover tax revenue that the federal government is losing due to rampant shopping tourism. At the same time, the SVP Federal Councillor is campaigning for federal personnel to be sent to a "digital war" for three or four days every year in future. "You have to prepare people mentally for the changes in the digital sector and take away their fears," he emphasizes.