Further to the consultation procedure, the Federal Council defined the guiding principles of the Tax Proposal 17 for the preparation of the draft bill by the Federal Department of Finance. Such draft bill shall be issued by end of March 2018. The parliamentary deliberations may then be concluded as early as the 2018 autumn session in view of an entry into force of the measures beginning of 2019 and 2020. In substance, the Federal Council is sticking to the core requirements of the project, i.e. the mandatory introduction of a patent box for all cantons, the option to introduce additional deductions for research and development expenditure, the taxation of minimum 70% of the dividends issued from qualified participations, the tax relief limitation to 70% of the profit and the increase of the family allowances by CHF 30 per month and per child. In addition, the Federal Council wants to raise the cantons’ share of direct federal tax to 21.2% instead of 20.5%.