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In Switzerland, an official document showing your debt status from the local debt collection register is required for a number of administrative tasks in Switzerland. For example, when applying for an apartment rental agreement or Swiss citizenship. © Siriporn Kaenseeya | Dreamstime.comKnown as an extrait du registre des poursuites in French or a Betreibungsauszug in German, the document can quickly and easily be obtained online for a fee by applying directly to the relevant office – see...

Switzerland is expensive. The prices of certain items, such as some meats and dairy products are kept especially high by a combination of trade tariffs and import restrictions. A lack of retail competition further adds to prices generally. © Typhoonski | Dreamstime.comFor some, shopping across the border is the preferred way to avoid high Swiss prices. Around CHF 10 billion is spent annually on cross-border shopping, according to one estimate. The current tax free limit of CHF 300 per...

Switzerland’s largest health insurers are poised to refund around CHF 300 million to policy holders, reported RTS. © Yulan | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s health insurers have reserves of roughly CHF 12 billion, around 2 times the minimum reserve requirement, and have been under pressure from the government to return the money to policy holders. This week Switzerland’s parliament decided to go one step further and force them to reduce their reserves. Parliamentarian Lorenzo Quadri said...

Ultimately, the plants we eat are made up of energy from the sun and compounds and elements extracted from the soil. Meat, eggs and diary are the same, just one step removed. © Stevanovicigor | Dreamstime.comThis means the availability and nutritional value of food is heavily dependent on healthy soil. A recently released commission report raises the alarm over the lack of information and monitoring of Swiss soil and argues the nation must work harder to protect its soil. If a global...

Finding a place to live in Switzerland is difficult. Home availability is low and prices are high. On 13 September 2021, the Federal Statistical Office published data showing a sharp drop in the number of vacant homes since 2020, a development that will make home hunting harder. © Cristianzamfir | Dreamstime.comOn 1 June 2021, there were 71,365 vacant homes in Switzerland, representing 1.54% of the total stock of housing. Since 1 June 2020, the number of vacant homes has dropped by 7,467,...

On 26 September 2021, Swiss voters will decide whether to introduce a tax increase on money earned from company ownership and investments. © Pascal Halder | Dreamstime.comThe initiative named ‘Reduce tax on salaries, tax capital fairly’ aims to have income derived from investments and company ownership taxed at 150% of the rate applied to other income. The argument put forward by the initiators, a group belonging to the young Socialist Party, is that income such as salary reflects...

There are many theories on why the prices of certain goods and services are so high in Switzerland. A well-known economic phenomenon can be added to them. © David Taljat | Dreamstime.comTheories that help to explain Switzerland’s high prices include, import restrictions and tariffs on products in protected industries like agriculture, high Swiss operating costs, anticompetitive deals struck by international companies that impose higher prices on Swiss retailers and prevent local retailers...

Swiss GDP grew by 1.8% in the second quarter of 2021 after contracting by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, according to figures published by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. © Joe Ahead | Dreamstime.comMuch of the bounce back was in the services sector as Covid measures were relaxed. Private consumption recovered strongly and industry also grew, although not as strongly as in previous quarters. In the second quarter of 2021, total GDP was only 0.5 % lower...

In Switzerland, home owners must add a fictional or imputed rent to their taxable income, which is calculated based on the home’s floor area. Proposals to eliminate imputed rent have been around for sometime. This week, the Federal Council came out in support of a plan to eliminate it put forward earlier by a commission of the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house. © Pavalache Stelian | Dreamstime.comThe Federal Council’s main motivation for changing the current system, which also...

After Switzerland ended talks with the EU on an institutional framework agreement aimed at replacing the country’s current patchwork of agreements with the bloc in May 2021, some in government have been focused on how to keep the EU on side. One obvious way to curry favour is to make the second 1 billion EU cohesion payment. © Gpagomenos | Dreamstime.comHowever, to make the payment, the Swiss government must agree. This week a commission voted 11 versus 2 in favour of making the payment,...