French and Swiss to re-discuss tax agreement

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter and his French colleague Laurent Fabius have agreed to review a proposed double taxation agreement that many of Switzerland’s cantons have called unfair. Speaking in Paris on Thursday after meeting Fabius, Burkhalter said that he explained to the French minister that the accord had met some resistance and that it would be good to have another round of talks before the Swiss government signed the agreement. Criticism of the proposed treaty has focused on the fact that it would help France recover inheritance tax from its citizens living in Switzerland and force Swiss who own property in France to be taxed there. The agreement would affect 2,000 French millionaires currently living in Switzerland but also many of the 170,000 Swiss expats living in France. According to a draft text leaked to the Le Temps newspaper a few weeks ago, “when an heir…resides in France at the time the person passes away, and they have been a resident ...