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The University of St.Gallen study on the OECD global minimum tax for multinational enterprises, commissioned by the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), attracted considerable attention in May. In the study, Professor Peter Hongler of the Institute of Law and Economics examined Switzerland’s available courses of action and recommended that the country withdraw from the international framework as quickly as possible, as previously reported by finews. The business associations Economiesuisse and Swissholdings immediately rejected the proposal.
The OECD global minimum tax imposes a tax rate of 15 percent on multinational enterprises with annual revenues of at least 750 million euros. Where the country of domicile applies a lower rate, other jurisdictions may levy a top-up tax. However, far from all of the 140 countries that signed the agreement have implemented it. The most prominent absentee is the United States, which also refuses to accept top-up taxation by other jurisdictions.
What should Switzerland do next regarding the global minimum tax? finews met Rahul Sahgal, the CEO who commissioned the study, at Amcham’s offices in Zurich. The opportunity was also used to ask him about the tariff dispute with the United States. From 2021 to 2024, Sahgal served as Deputy Head of the Tax Division at the State Secretariat for International Finance in Bern. Before that, from 2017 to 2021, he was a counsellor responsible for financial and tax affairs at the Swiss Embassy in Washington.
