News

At the UN conference on the two-state solution which took place from 28 to 30 July 2025 in New York, Switzerland called for respect for international humanitarian law by all parties, including the unhindered provision of humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages, an immediate and lasting ceasefire and serious diplomatic efforts to implement the two-state solution. Around 120 states attended the conference.

Supercapacitors, or supercaps in short, are fast, powerful energy storage devices. They complement the relatively slow (dis-)charging batteries in numerous applications ranging from electric cars to industrial machines and wind turbines. A team of Empa researchers wants to develop better supercaps based on graphene – and make them ready for large-scale commercial production.

The Swiss Residential Property Price Index (IMPI) rose in the 2nd quarter 2025 by 1.9% compared with the previous quarter and reached 123.3 points (4th quarter 2019 = 100). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, inflation was 5.0%. These are some of the results from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

The additional agreement to the double taxation agreement between Switzerland and France entered into force on 24 July 2025. Its provisions, which permanently regulate the taxation of income from home office work, will apply from 1 January 2026.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has been conducting criminal proceedings since 2022 in the matter of a large-scale phishing series. Fake e-banking login pages had been used to defraud numerous Swiss bank customers, resulting in losses of around CHF 2.4 million. In this context, the OAG took over about thirty cases from the cantons. The investigations conducted by the OAG and fedpol led to the identification and location of the developer and distributor of phishing kit in the UK. The case was taken over by the British authorities, who were already conducting similar proceedings against the individual involved. He was sentenced by a court in the UK on 23 July 2025 to seven years imprisonment. This success demonstrates the importance of international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime.

On 16 July 2025 in Brussels, Switzerland and Belgium signed a protocol of amendment to the agreement between Switzerland and Belgium for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and capital (DTA). The protocol implements the minimum standards for double taxation agreements.

The amending protocol to the double taxation agreement (DTA) between Switzerland and Serbia has entered into force. With a few exceptions, most of the changes will apply from 1 January 2026.

On 18 July 2025 in Zagreb, Switzerland and Croatia signed a protocol of amendment to the agreement between Switzerland and Croatia for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and capital (DTA). The protocol implements the minimum standards for double taxation agreements.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-chair the high-level international conference to promote a lasting peace in the Middle East and the implementation of the two-state solution. The conference will be held from 28 to 30 July 2025 in New York, under the auspices of the United Nations. Switzerland will be taking part alongside numerous international partners.

Empa researchers have developed innovative sound absorbers made of mineral foams. Not only are they significantly thinner than conventional materials, they can also be designed specifically for different frequencies. They have now been tested for the first time in a driveway in the city of Zurich to dampen street noise.

As part of the minimum taxation of multinational groups of companies, the FTA explains the crediting of residual tax as the applicable tax for Swiss top-up tax. It clarifies that the residual tax on distributions of a Swiss business unit is to be taken into account by the distributing Swiss business unit as the relevant tax for the calculation of the Swiss top-up tax.

COMCO settles with Visa on an average interchange fee rate of 0.15% for card-present domestic debit card payments. For the first time, COMCO also reduces cross-border interchange fees for debit and credit card payments from the EEA.