Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Tax Agreement between the UK and Switzerland, signed on 6 October 2011, were published by HMRC.

By way of reminder, the key features of the Agreement are that accounts held by individual UK taxpayers in Switzerland will be subject to a one-off deduction in 2013, as long as the account was open on 31 December 2010 and is open on 31 May 2013. This deduction will settle income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and VAT liabilities in relation to the funds in the account. Article 9 and Schedule I of the Agreement deal with calculating the one-off payment, the applicable rate being 34%. However, the deduction will not be applied if the account holder instructs.

The FAQs will be updated by HMRC as necessary. The guidance, as updated on 6 December 2011, is reproduced on here.