LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Plattner and Fabian Jenny, Ospelt & Partner Attorneys at Law Ltd.
value, and the value-enhancing expenses excluding the usual value maintenance costs. Deferral of the real estate gains tax Taxation with real estate gains tax is deferred by law or upon request in the event of: • change of ownership by reason of death, advance inheritance or gift; • consolidation of property and reallocation of build - ing land or boundary adjustments carried out in accordance with public law; • restructuring; • changes of ownership between spouses; and • change of ownership through the transfer of real estate to settle claims under matrimonial property law or maintenance law or claims resulting from the involvement of one spouse in the acquisition by the other. Tax rate of real estate gains tax The tax rate pursuant to personal income tax applies to taxable gains on real estate. If several parcels of the same property or properties that formed a property unit five years ago are sold within five years, the basic tax-free amount is only granted once to the same tax - payer. Instead of the municipal surcharge, a surcharge of 200% is levied on the amount calculated. 1.6 Stability of Tax Laws The Liechtenstein tax system is stable and reliable for private clients. The current tax law came into force on 1 January 2011. The general principles of the tax law remain unchanged. Most amendments are imple - mented in connection with European and global tax initiatives. The implementation of the switch-over- clause and the GloBE Act of 10 November 2023 on the global minimum tax regime for big multinational companies are also noteworthy. The GloBE tax applies for first time for the tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2024. The Liechten - stein top-up tax within the meaning of the GloBE Model Rules applies to domestic constituent entities of a multinational enterprise group or a large domestic group whose ultimate parent entity has generated an annual revenue of EUR750 million or more in its con - solidated financial statements in at least two of the
four fiscal years immediately preceding the reviewed fiscal year. Joint ventures and constituent entities of joint ventures are also subject to the Liechtenstein top-up tax. If a lower threshold than the mentioned annual revenue applies in the tax jurisdiction of the ultimate parent entity of a multinational enterprise group, its domestic constituent entities are also sub - ject to the Liechtenstein top-up tax. The minimum rate for the Liechtenstein top-up tax is 15%. Liechtenstein top-up tax shall be set to zero in the first five years of the initial phase of the international activity of the multinational enterprise group, provided that no top- up tax is applied abroad in relation to Liechtenstein constituent entities, and in the first five years from the first day of the fiscal year in which the large domestic group originally comes within the scope of the GloBE Act. Liechtenstein top-up tax shall be allocated to and collected from the Liechtenstein constituent entity. All domestic constituent entities shall be jointly and sev - erally liable for the Liechtenstein top-up tax. 1.7 Transparency and Increased Global Reporting Liechtenstein has committed to OECD standards and endorses the global Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for the automatic exchange of information in tax matters (AEOI). Liechtenstein has been exchang - ing information with reportable AEOI-partner states since 2017. Annex 1 of the AEOI-Ordinance (AIA-Ver - ordnung) contains the list of reportable partner states. The list comprises 125 states (as of 1 January 2026). The legal basis for the AEOI between Liechtenstein and the EU member states is the “Agreement between the European Union and the Principality of Liechten - stein on the automatic exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance”. The legal bases for the AEOI between Liechtenstein and non-EU countries are the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Informa - tion (CRS MCAA). Further, Liechtenstein complies with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) provisions. Liechtenstein has also entered into a Model I inter - governmental agreement (IGA).
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