04.03.2013 - International bodies that deal with tax matters have become increasingly important in recent years. Switzerland is also affected by this development. It cooperates intensively with other countries in the area of taxation. It is actively involved in preparing and further developing international standards in various bodies. The main trend-setters are the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information.

Since Switzerland adopted the OECD standard on tax administrative assistance in 2009, numerous bilateral double taxation agreements have been negotiated and amended. Administrative assistance is now granted not only in the event of tax fraud, but also in cases of tax evasion. Group requests have also been in line with the international standard since July 2012. Before then, administrative assistance was granted only in individual cases. This required an amendment of Switzerland's Tax Administrative Assistance Act.