Banking secrecy and withholding tax: tax consequences for the honesty in the cantons of Switzerland

Swiss banking secrecy tempts foreigners to remain silent about capital incomes and, thus, not pay taxes as obliged by law, but residents of Switzerland as well. Therefore, Switzerland introduced a withholding tax on capital income in order to make domestic residents report levels of wealth and capital incomes properly. We ask whether a withholding tax rate of 35 percent achieves this goal. For this purpose, marginal income tax rates are computed and income distributions are estimated for each canton. From these we identify income levels and shares of tax payers for whom the withholding tax does not work as intended. Adapted from the source document.