by On 1 January 2024, three new laws came into force. The first is a change to Swiss pensions. Under the new rules it will be easier to retire later or to continue working part time. Working for longer will mean a larger state pension when it is taken. The economic rationale is that more people working for longer will add to GDP and tax revenue, reduce the dependency ratio and help with the challenges of funding pensions as the population ages. © Chris Dorney | Dreamstime.comThe second change is an increase in VAT to help fund state pensions. The main rate will rise from 7.7% to 8.1% and the lower rate for necessities will rise from 2.5% to 2.6%. A special rate applied to hotel charges will rise from 3.7% to 3.8%. This change was accepted by a majority of Swiss voters on 25 September
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On 1 January 2024, three new laws came into force. The first is a change to Swiss pensions. Under the new rules it will be easier to retire later or to continue working part time. Working for longer will mean a larger state pension when it is taken. The economic rationale is that more people working for longer will add to GDP and tax revenue, reduce the dependency ratio and help with the challenges of funding pensions as the population ages.
The second change is an increase in VAT to help fund state pensions. The main rate will rise from 7.7% to 8.1% and the lower rate for necessities will rise from 2.5% to 2.6%. A special rate applied to hotel charges will rise from 3.7% to 3.8%. This change was accepted by a majority of Swiss voters on 25 September 2022. The vote, which also asked whether men and women should have the same official retirement age of 65, was the most divisive in voting history. Women were overwhelmingly against retiring a year later and men were overwhelmingly in favour of pushing the female retirement age up from 64 to 65.
The third change is to the chargers used for phones and other devices. From 1 January 2024, only USB-C compatible chargers can be sold with new mobile phones and other radio or wireless communication devices and systems. These include devices with wireless elements such as tablets, digital cameras, laptops, headphones and e-readers.
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