by In Switzerland, some married couples pay more tax than unmarried ones, something referred to as the marriage tax penalty. © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.comThe issue has been doing the rounds of the halls of Switzerland’s government for around 30 years. On 28 February 2016, a vote to change the current system was narrowly rejected by 50.8% of voters. Then in April 2019, the result of this referendum was reversed by the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, due to a statistical error. Ahead of the vote the Federal Council said that only 80,000 married couples were penalised by the current system. However, it was later revealed that 700,000 were worse off. In response to this decision the Federal Council proposed calculating federal taxes twice. Once assuming
Topics:
Investec considers the following as important: Editor's Choice, Human interest, Marriage penalty Switzerland, Marriage tax Switzerland, Personal finance, Politics, Tax effect of marriage in Switzerland
This could be interesting, too:
Investec writes Swiss to vote on tenancy laws this weekend
Investec writes Switzerland ranked second in digital competitiveness
Investec writes Swiss wages set to rise in 2025
Marc Chandler writes The Dollar Remains Bid, While the Euro and Swiss Franc are Sold Through Last Week’s Lows
In Switzerland, some married couples pay more tax than unmarried ones, something referred to as the marriage tax penalty.
The issue has been doing the rounds of the halls of Switzerland’s government for around 30 years.
On 28 February 2016, a vote to change the current system was narrowly rejected by 50.8% of voters. Then in April 2019, the result of this referendum was reversed by the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, due to a statistical error. Ahead of the vote the Federal Council said that only 80,000 married couples were penalised by the current system. However, it was later revealed that 700,000 were worse off.
In response to this decision the Federal Council proposed calculating federal taxes twice. Once assuming couples were married and again assuming they were single. Then the lower of the two amounts would be paid.
This week, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, decided by 13 votes to 12 that the Federal Council’s plan doesn’t go far enough, in particular it doesn’t include the negative impact marriage has on social security, according to 20 Minutes.
If the government is unable to come up with a solution that satisfies a majority then the 2016 referendum will need to be rerun by 27 September 2020 at the latest.
More on this:
20 Minutes article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.