Start-up tax: Zurich start-ups on the sidelines
While other cantons value the shares of SMEs and startups using the tried-and-tested practitioner method, the tax authority of the Canton of Zurich has been using last-paid issue prices of capital increases as the basis for wealth tax since the third quarter of 2014. Since 2016, this practice has increasingly shown limits for startups.
Since March 2016, the Zurich tax office has valued the shares of startups for wealth tax purposes not according to the current value of the company, but according to the price that an investor had paid for a share. This valuation method has the consequence that owners of startups/young companies are in a worse position with regard to wealth tax than people who invest part of their assets in shares of established SMEs/listed companies.
In extreme cases, the wealth tax burden could even be higher than the total income. The canton of Berne has a different, more entrepreneur-friendly approach, as the Berne Innovation Promotion be-advanced in the Interview points out.
Will start-ups stay in Zurich?
Zurich start-ups are still mobilizing against the astronomical property tax bills of the Canton of Zurich. When talking about start-up founders in Zurich, one should certainly not disregard the high-tech companies and their business angels. The best startups (especially ETH spin-offs) now see themselves forced to leave the canton of Zurich or even Switzerland.
This is not only because of the horrendous tax bills, but because the search for investors for startups based in the canton of Zurich will become much more difficult due to the new tax practice.
Do grace periods help?
Due to strong resistance from the startup scene, the Finance Directorate eased the new practice somewhat on March 1, 2016, and introduces "grace periods" of three fiscal years (five years for biotech and medtech). However, this does not solve the actual problem, because ultimately the financing costs are shifted to later tax rounds.
While the Finance Directorate of the Canton of Zurich is pushing hard to make its new tax practice the national standard via the Conference of Finance Directors and the Swiss Tax Conference, all exponents of the startup scene fear massive damage to Switzerland as a location for innovation. Politicians are also active: FDP/CVP/SVP of the Zurich Cantonal Council have submitted an urgent postulate (KR-Nr. 168/2016) calling for a return to the practitioner method and thus equal treatment of all startups and SMEs.
37 percent would like to leave Switzerland
The national startup promoter venturelab wanted to know exactly and launched a study to investigate the consequences of the new Zurich tax practice on the best startups: 85% of the respondents are considering a move. While 33% are looking for a location in another canton, 37% want to leave Switzerland!
15% are still undecided about location. With the new tax practice, the canton of Zurich risks losing almost half of its top startups to foreign countries. This is particularly explosive in view of the enormous state investments that flow into research work and the promotion of these spin-offs.
In addition, startups affected by the startup tax are struggling with a much more difficult financing environment: For example, 20% of the startups surveyed believe that financing from business angels will become almost impossible due to the new tax practice in the canton of Zurich. And 70% assume that fundraising will become much more difficult for them than it already is.
Postulate for practitioner method
The 61 startups that have participated in the study so far will cost the canton of Zurich 1,050 jobs alone. This corresponds to around CHF 25 million in income taxes. To make up for the same amount with wealth taxes, assets worth around CHF 5 billion would have to be taxed. This calculation shows how absurd the new practice of the Zurich tax authorities basically is.
However, the Zurich government council is prepared to accept the urgent postulate in the sense of the practice-related considerations. Now it remains to be hoped that the Zurich government council will persuade its tax authorities to adjust their misguided practice within a useful period of time.
More information about the study can be found at this Link