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In Switzerland, parents can claim tax allowances for their children. Currently they can deduct CHF 6,500 for each child plus up to CHF 10,100 per child for money spent on childcare from their federal tax calculation. © Marija Starcevic | Dreamstime.comResidents of Switzerland pay three layers of tax: federal, cantonal and municipal. These particular deductions apply only to federal tax. The Federal Council and Parliament decided to increase the per child deduction from CHF 6,500 to CHF...

Compulsory Swiss health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 0.5% in 2021, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). © Svershinsky | Dreamstime.comThe average monthly premium will rise to CHF 316.50, 0.5% higher than in 2020. Premiums have risen an average of 3.7% p.a. since obligatory insurance was introduced in Switzerland in 1996. The average premium for adults will rise to CHF 375.40 (+0.4%), to CHF 265.60 (+0.4%) for young adults, while falling to...

Swiss, Switzerland’s flag airline, which is part of the Lufthansa group, has asked employees to accept a 15% pay cut. If they reject this offer the airline has said 1,425 jobs will be at risk, 15% of the workforce, according to a report by the newspaper Sonntags Zeitung. © Nui7711 | Dreamstime.com“Our goal is to get through the crisis with as many employees as possible.” said Marco Lipp, spokesperson for the airline. “This will only be possible if substantial reductions in staff costs can...

On 27 September 2020, Swiss voters have many decisions to make. This time the list of votes includes decisions on fighter jets, hunting, tax deductions for child care and paternity leave. Probably the most important among them is a decision on whether to accept a proposal to end the EU agreement on the free movement of people between Switzerland and the bloc, known as the Limitation Initiative. © Miriam Doerr | Dreamstime.comThe agreement between Switzerland and the EU on the free...

A report published this week places Switzerland fourth on a list of countries best positioned to make an economic rebound after the coronavirus downturn. © Octavian Lazar | Dreamstime.comThe analysis looks at overall health resilience, pre-existing structural strengths and weaknesses in 122 countries. The top four nations are Finland, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. These countries combine world class governance with high levels of social capital and high social resilience. They also...

Recently published figures show rail passenger numbers dropped by more than a third during the first half of 2020. BEAT SCHWEIZER © SBB CFF FFSDuring this period an average of 810,000 passengers a day traveled on the network, a number more than a third less than during the first half of 2019 when there was 1.29 million. The number of passenger kilometres was also down 38.4%, said the company. Lower ticket revenues combined with a largely fixed cost base led to a loss of CHF 479 million...

Citing the economic effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, Switzerland’s Federal Council has decided to relax measures designed to curb the sale of the most polluting cars in Switzerland. © Malang Sheikh | Dreamstime.comIn July 2012, Switzerland introduced regulations on the CO2 emissions of new cars. The rules, which include average fleet emissions limits, apply to any vendor importing more than 49 vehicles into Switzerland. Any importer importing a fleet of 50 or more cars exceeding the...

With daily infection rates in France rising to levels not seen since its previous peak in April 2020, the Swiss government is considering modifying its quarantine risk list system to include certain French regions rather than the whole country. © Eq Roy | Dreamstime.comThe idea is being discussed as a potential way to avoid paralysing parts of Switzerland that rely on large daily flows of cross-border workers, the cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Basel-City in particular. Geneva and France...

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has ranked Switzerland number one in the world for innovation for the tenth consecutive year, according to its latest Global Innovation Index (GII) published this week. © Thomas Jurkowski | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland, Sweden, U.S., U.K and Netherlands lead the innovation ranking, which ranks more than 130 nations. The biggest change in Switzerland’s score this year related to its performance on patents. The GII shows year-on-year...

In the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, Switzerland’s GDP fell by –8.2 % after decreasing by –2.5 % in the previous quarter. © Michael Müller | Dreamstime.comGDP for Q2 2020 was 10.5% lower than Q4 2019. Domestic economic activity was severely restricted in the wake of the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it, said the government. However, Switzerland’s GDP decline remained limited when compared to the sharp recession experienced globally. Switzerland’s large pharmaceutical...