A new Double Tax Treaty (DTT) between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Swiss Confederation was ratified by the National Assembly at the end of February and promulgated at the beginning of March. The Treaty is aimed at protecting the interests of both countries and contributing to bilateral cooperation.
The new DTT rectifies a substantial omission in the existing one, where there was no provision on the exchange of information between the two states. The inclusion of texts on banking secrecy would allow the exchange of banking information for tax purposes and would ensure transparency and the possibility to take decisive and effective measures against money laundering, tax fraud and tax avoidance. The new DTT texts are consistent with the OECD Model Tax Convention and with the relevant EU directives transposed by Bulgaria.
Impact on investor: The new double tax treaty between Bulgaria and Switzerland aims at protect the interests of both states and contributes to bilateral cooperation, also providing for the exchange of information, including such with banking origin for tax purposes.