Welcome to the New BRA Website
For a number of years our website has provided information to BRA members. However, its age was causing Nigel Coombs increasing effort and heartache to keep it going. Last week, an update installed by our service provider proved incompatible with our existing application and “knocked out” our website to the extent that we were unable to enter it even for maintenance. The BRA Council agreed last year to build a more modern website. Deborah Gorsatt took on the project and, aided by our Secretary, has worked hard with the consultant to develop this new site. We have decided to bring the new website on-line now to ensure that BRA members have continued access to the information they need to plan their activities. Although some parts remain under construction, we hope that you find this new site informative and easy to use. I would like to thank Nigel Coombs for the supreme effort he has put in over the years to develop and maintain the old site. Deborah, Noreen and Thierry Butikofer (our consultant) have put in many long and hard hours to develop the new site and to make good the loss of our old site; they deserve our thanks particularly […]
BREXIT UPDATE, 26 June 2017
The UK Prime Minister has announced that the British government will continue pension uprating, payment of disability benefits and healthcare cover after Brexit for British expatriates in the EU.Speaking in the House of Commons on 26 June 2017, Theresa May said: “The UK will continue to export and uprate the UK state pension and provide associated healthcare cover within the EU. We will continue to protect the export of other benefits and associated healthcare cover where the individual is in receipt of those benefits on the cut-off date”. The cut-off date refers to a date, yet to be set, between the article 50 trigger day, March 29, 2017 and the day the UK leaves the EU, which may be March 29, 2019. She added that subject to negotiation, the UK would like to continue to participate in the European Health Insurance Card scheme so UK cardholders continue having free or reduced cost healthcare on visits to the EU, and vice versa. The obligations agreed to in the EU withdrawal treaty will bind the UK as a matter of international law, she said. “We will also incorporate the commitments into UK law, guaranteeing we will stand firmly by our part of […]
Automatic Exchange of and the Swiss Voluntary Tax Programme
Swiss Taxpayers And The Automatic Exchange Of Information (AEI): The Swiss Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VD) And The Simplifed Procedure Of Tax Recovery Available To Heirs The following important information has been provided by BRA member, Peter Steimle, whose company, Steimle & Partners Consulting Sagl, is based in Lugano. Should further information be required, his office maybe contacted by e-mail at info@steimle-consulting.ch or telephone: 091 9139900. The VD procedure applies to undeclared assets and income wherever located and exempts individuals and companies from fines and criminal prosecution. The disclosure programme is also available to heirs, with the simplified procedure for the recovery of taxes on undeclared assets and income of the testator. Both VD programs represent the only concrete opportunity for Swiss taxpayers to regularize their tax situation without incurring administrative and criminal sanctions. The many political attempts to introduce a general Swiss tax amnesty have not been successful up to now. The new global standard for the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEI), relevant for tax purposes The aim of the AEI standard is to effectively combat cross-border tax evasion. At the moment more than 100 countries, including Switzerland, have in principle adhered to the introduction of this new global standard. In accordance with the Multilateral Agreement […]
Berne is Best European Capital City
Berne in Switzerland has been crowned the Best European Capital City to work in, while the Albanian capital Tirana is the worst! London came 18th in this research conducted by silverdoor.co.uk. You can see it here! The research compared the cost of living, average monthly salary, unemployment rate, traffic commute and average hours worked in each capital.
BREXIT UPDATE
Below is a summary of recent BREXIT-related actions and events of interest to BRA members. The BRA is not a campaigning organisation but we will continue to keep our members informed of relevant actions and events as they arise. We are fortunate in having an Ambassador whose Embassy in Bern takes an interest in supporting UK citizens living in Switzerland. Through our close relations with the Embassy, the BRA will continue to make known the concerns and views of its members to the UK authorities. 31 January. BSCC Lunch in Geneva, On 31 January , a number of BRA members took up The British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce Geneva Chapter’s kind invitation to join them for lunch at the Warwick Hotel to hear Swiss Ambassador Henri Gétaz talk about BREXIT: implications for Switzerland and Swiss-EU relations. As the leader of the team in the Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs dedicated to finding a satisfactory outcome to negotiations, Ambassador Gétaz explained the Swiss approach to negotiating with the UK and the EU about Brexit and the Swiss referendum on “free movement”. He described the Swiss aims as to “preserve rights and obligations based on CH-EU agreements also after Brexit and to extend relations […]
Her Majesty the Queen surpasses Queen Victoria’s record
Your Council sent this letter to the Queen on Monday on your behalf congratulating her on becoming the longest-serving monarch in British history on this day, September 9, 2015. We are honoured to have received this reply from Her Majesty dated September 30, 2015. You can see a selection of pictures taken during each year of her reign on the BBC website just by clicking here! Buckingham Palace has calculated that Queen Victoria reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes, taking into account 63 years, 15 leap days, additional months and days and the precise timings of her accession and death. By those calculations, Queen Elizabeth II overtakes Victoria with 63 years plus 16 leap days, additional months and days and the exact time of the death of her father, King George VI. She came to the throne when she was older than Victoria, who was only 18. The historian, Dr Kate Williams, said “It shows that our female monarchs last the longest. The Queen’s longevity is a great source of her strength and popularity. She has lived through World War Two and throughout the 20th century.” Queen Victoria ascended the throne upon the death of her uncle, William IV, on 20 June 1837, less […]
British Citizenship for children born in Switzerland
The page relating to this in our Information Portal has just been updated to provide a direct link to the legislation. A new version of this legislation is in the pipeline which will permit application for British citizenship for children born here of British parents also born here. The requirement for the parent to have spent 3 years in the UK before the child was born remains but the application will be able to be made as long as the child is a minor, rather than before the child’s first birthday as is the case at present.Caveat: This statement has not been verified by the Embassy