Tag Archives: Business & Economy

Swiss cigarette prices will not rise over the coming years unless manufacturers increase the underlying price. On Tuesday, Switzerland’s Council of States (upper house), withheld permission to allow the Federal Council (cabinet) to continue hiking the tax on smokes. © Ocskay Mark | Dreamstime.com From 2005 to 2015, the price of Switzerland’s best selling cigarettes rose from CHF 6 to CHF 8.50. Of this increase only CHF 0.90 cents related to tax. The rest, CHF 1.60, came from an increase in...

Currently, anyone ordering something from outside Switzerland, must pay Swiss Post an administrative charge if their package attracts import tax (duty and/or VAT). In addition, they must pay Swiss Post an additional CHF 13 if the parcel needs to be opened, usually because the package has been poorly labelled. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com Swiss Post has a contract with Swiss customs to process packages coming into the country. Yesterday, Switzerland’s upper house (Council of States) agreed...

Currently, anyone ordering something from outside Switzerland, must pay Swiss Post an administrative charge if their package attracts import tax (duty and/or VAT). In addition, they must pay Swiss Post an additional CHF 13 if the parcel needs to be opened, usually because the package has been poorly labelled. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com Swiss Post has a contract with Swiss customs to process packages coming into the country. Yesterday, Switzerland’s upper house (Council of States) agreed...

In 2014, the average gross annual salary for a full-time male worker in Switzerland was CHF 81,000, CHF 10,000 or 12.5% higher than that of an average woman. But what does this high level difference mean? Inspired by the Swedish statistician Hans Rosling, who passed away recently, I decided to dig deeper to see what was behind this top line pay difference. Hans Rosling had a knack for using statistics to expose bias and our inbuilt tendency to overlook change. He would take numbers from the...

Speaking to Tribune de Genève, Serge Dal Busco, Geneva’s minister of finance, voiced his concerns about last Sunday’s rejection of Switzerland’s planned company tax reform. At the same time he remains optimistic about the chances of a new federal corporate tax reform project. © Cornelius20 | Dreamstime.com His biggest concern is that Bern might backtrack on its promise to help the cantons replace the lost tax revenue created by lowering standard tax rates. Switzerland’s federal...

Le Matin. The unemployment rate across Switzerland climbed by 0.2% to 3.7% in January, and regional differences were clear. Across French and Italian-speaking cantons the rate averaged 5%, while across the German-speaking cantons it was 3.1%. © Beat Bieler | Dreamstime.com The unemployment rate climbed across Switzerland’s French-speaking cantons with Neuchâtel remaining the worst affected. There the rate climbed 0.3% to 6.6%. Geneva was second, rising 0.2% to 5.7%, followed by Jura, up 0.2%...

Le Matin. The unemployment rate across Switzerland climbed by 0.2% to 3.7% in January, and regional differences were clear. Across French and Italian-speaking cantons the rate averaged 5%, while across the German-speaking cantons it was 3.1%. © Beat Bieler | Dreamstime.com The unemployment rate climbed across Switzerland’s French-speaking cantons with Neuchâtel remaining the worst affected. There the rate climbed 0.3% to 6.6%. Geneva was second, rising 0.2% to 5.7%, followed by Jura, up 0.2%...

20 Minutes. Switzerland could drop daylight savings. Currently, Switzerland’s Federal Council sees no reason to abandon it, however if Switzerland’s neighbours did it would follow, mainly for economic reasons said the Federal council. © Jibmeyer | Dreamstime.com National councilor Yvette Estermann (UDC/SVP), who is fiercely opposed to daylight saving, took the opportunity to point out the negative health consequences of changing the time every six months. The idea of daylight savings was...

A report published by the Swiss Federal Office of statistics, shows that only 4.3% of full-time1 workers earn CHF 3,000 or less per month2. The monthly figure is net of social security deductions, but includes one twelfth of the 13th bonus month typically paid in Switzerland. © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com CHF 3,000 per month is CHF 36,000 a year, equivalent to US$ 36,250 or GBP 28,250, slightly above the annual UK median of GBP 28,0283. At the other end of the spectrum, only 5.6% of...

A report published by the Swiss Federal Office of statistics, shows that only 4.3% of full-time1 workers earn CHF 3,000 or less per month2. The monthly figure is net of social security deductions, but includes one twelfth of the 13th bonus month typically paid in Switzerland. © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com CHF 3,000 per month is CHF 36,000 a year, equivalent to US$ 36,250 or GBP 28,250, slightly above the annual UK median of GBP 28,0283. At the other end of the spectrum, only 5.6% of...