Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

The current rate of 8% is set to drop on 1 January 2018. Temporarily increased by 0.4% in 2011 to shore up funding for disability welfare, the rate will revert to 7.7%. The 0.1% difference between the new rate and pre 2011 rate of 7.6% is a new increase that will be used to help finance rail infrastructure. ©_Toscawhi _ Dreamstime.com Switzerland has three VAT rates: a standard rate (8%), a hotel rate (3.8%) and a reduced rate (2.5%). From 1 January 2018, these will fall to 7.7%, 3.6% and...

Recently published international price comparison numbers show just how expensive life is in Switzerland. © Mike Clegg | Dreamstime The price of a standard basket of items, including food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare, transport, education and other regular expenses, was far higher in Switzerland than in the rest of Europe. In 2016, life in Switzerland was 68% more expensive than the EU average. The only other...

Recently published international price comparison numbers show just how expensive life is in Switzerland. © Mike Clegg | Dreamstime The price of a standard basket of items, including food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare, transport, education and other regular expenses, was far higher in Switzerland than in the rest of Europe. In 2016, life in Switzerland was 68% more expensive than the EU average. The only other countries close to being this far above the average were Iceland (+54%),...

The number of visitors to Switzerland rose 6% this summer, but this headline figure hides some steep rises and falls. © Martinmark | Dreamstime From May to October 2017, 11 million people holidayed in Switzerland, 644,000 more than the over same period in 2016. Swiss made up close to half the total (4.9 million), followed by Germans (950k), Americans (663k), Chinese (659k), British (396k), French (365k), Indians (263k), Italians (253k), South Koreans (208k), Japanese (182k), Dutch (175k),...

A recent OECD study, which looks at retirement, shows the relatively large amount spent on pensioners in Switzerland. © Marian Vejcik | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Switzerland consumes 11% of its GDP on retirees, compared to 9% across OECD nations. Despite this high spending, the risk of poverty is higher in Switzerland than across the OECD. According to the organisation, 19% of those over 64 in Switzerland are at...

A recent OECD study, which looks at retirement, shows the relatively large amount spent on pensioners in Switzerland. © Marian Vejcik | Dreamstime Switzerland consumes 11% of its GDP on retirees, compared to 9% across OECD nations. Despite this high spending, the risk of poverty is higher in Switzerland than across the OECD. According to the organisation, 19% of those over 64 in Switzerland are at risk of poverty, compared to an OECD average of 13%. On average, basic Swiss retirement incomes...

© Igor Stevanovic | Dreamstime It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession of a database with 21,000 combinations of...

This week EU Finance ministers came out with a list of countries it thinks don’t measure up to its definition of good tax behaviour. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime There are two categories: blacklist and so-called “grey list”. Black is bad and grey is heading toward good, but not yet there. Switzerland is on the “grey list”. To stay off the list, countries must have fair tax rules, which are defined as not offering preferential measures or arrangements that enable companies to move profits to...

© Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland...

It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? © Igor Stevanovic | Dreamstime MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession of a database with 21,000 combinations of compromised email usernames and passwords. Intriguingly, the list was supplied...