Switzerland

Business Environment

Business practices

Closed hours and days: Banks open from Monday to Friday from 8. 30 AM to 4.30 PM.

Public holidays

Compensation day

Periods when companies usually close

Standards

National standards organizations
Integration in the international standards network: The body responsible for standardisation and certification in Switzerland is the Schweizerische Normen-Vereinigung mit internationalem Service (SNV). This body includes specialised sub-offices dealing with products certification: the interdisciplinary Schweizerische Normen-Vereinigung (INB), the Verein Schweizerischer Maschinen-Industrieller (VSM), specialised in machinery and metal working industry, the Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein (SIA) managing the Building industry, the Vereinigung Schweizerischer Strassenfachleute (VSS) for road network, the Standardisation Bureau for the Swiss Watch Industry NIHS), the Schweizerischer Electroteknischer Verein (SEV) for electrotechnical industry and Pro Telecom (PTC) for telecommunications. Other standardisation bodies, such as the Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs-Und Forschungsanstalt (EMPA), the Swiss Institute for therapeutic products (Swissmedic) and the Schweizerische Unfallversicherungs-Anstalt (SUVA)
Classification of standards
Online consultation of standards
Certification organizations

Legal framework

Independence of justice: The judiciary is independent in Switzerland.
Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners: Foreign nationals can expect a free trial from the country’s judicial system.
The language of justice: The judicial languages used in the country are: German, French and Italian.
Having recourse to an interpreter: Possible
Sources of the law and legal similarities: The legal system is based on civil law system and judicial review of various legislative acts. Switzerland accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, but with reservations.
Consulting national laws online

Intellectual Property

National organizations: The body in charge with the protection of intellectual property in Switzerland is the Federal Institute of the Intellectual property (IGE).
Switzerland signed the agreement of Paris for the protection of industrial property and the agreement establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO). As for patents, Switzerland signed the agreement of Munich for European patents, the Patents Co-operation Treaty (PCT) and the agreement of Strasbourg for the International Classification of Patents.
Switzerland signed the agreement of Madrid for the international classification of trademarks and the agreement of Nice for the international classification of goods and services for the register of trademarks.

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property	Law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent	Patent Act 1954	Period of validity of 20 years
Trademark			Trademark law treaty Nice agreement concerning the International classification of goods and Services for the Purposes of the registration of Marks Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design
Copyright
Industrial Models

Tax rates

Consumption taxes

Tax rate: 7.6%
Reduced tax rate: 3.6% or 2.4%

Corporate taxes

Tax rate

Capital gains taxation

In Switzerland, capital gains are generally taxed in the same way as ordinary income.

Other corporate taxes

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Allowable deductions and tax credit

Personal deductions vary according to the status of each person (single people, bridegrooms, dependant child, etc.).
Medical care and insurance allowances are often deductible.

Accounting rules

Tax year: The fiscal year begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st of the same year.
Accounting regulation bodies
Publication: The audit report must indicate that accounts are in accordance with the account books of the company and respect accounting standards.
Professional accountancy bodies
Accounting news