The Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled on 2 June 2026 that a Liechtenstein single-investor fund qualifies as a foreign collective investment scheme and therefore as an exempt investor for Swiss securities transfer tax purposes.
The court's reasoning turns on the structure of the Stamp Duty Act itself. The Act contains separate, independent exemptions for domestic and foreign collective investment schemes. The definition of a foreign scheme is deliberately broader than its domestic counterpart. Building on that, the court confirmed that Circular No. 24 of the Swiss Federal Tax Administration accepts foreign single-investor funds where the competent foreign supervisory authority recognises them as such. Liechtenstein funds supervised by the Financial Market Authority (FMA) meet that condition.
Critically, the court held that a foreign single-investor fund qualifies as an exempt investor regardless of whether the underlying individual investor would qualify as a qualified investor under Swiss law. The two questions are distinct. Exemption flows from the fund's status, not from looking through to the investor behind it.
Practical implications
The ruling has immediate relevance for securities dealers and their clients. Where Swiss securities transfer tax has been levied on transactions involving foreign single-investor funds supervised by a recognised foreign authority, that tax may have been wrongly charged. Affected parties should review past transactions to assess whether refund claims are available and, if so, within what limitation periods under Swiss law.