Tag Archives: Personal finance

On 1 January 2021, Swiss pump prices are set to rise by 3.7 cents per litre. © Frischschoggi | Dreamstime.comFrom 1 January 2021, the total taxes on a litre of petrol and diesel in Switzerland will be 77 and 80 cents respectively. At a price of CHF 1.50 litre, taxes will make up over half the price of a litre of fuel in Switzerland. The 3.7 cent tax hike, which is set to run until 2028, was adopted by the Federal Council on 1 July 2020. The increase aims to allow the government to...

On 16 December 2020, Switzerland’s Council of States, the nation’s upper house, accepted a 2021 budget deeply in the red following its acceptance last week by the National Council. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.comIn 2021, Switzerland’s federal government plans to collect CHF 75.8 billion while spending CHF 81.9 billion, plunging the budget CHF 6.1 billion into the red. The pandemic has significantly increased spending. Spending in 2021 is expected to be 8.8% higher than in 2020 and the...

© Alexey Novikov | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation. Every 3 years, the Foundation conducts a survey of the general population in eleven countries to investigate experiences of the health system. 88% of the 2,284 people surveyed across all of Switzerland rated the overall performance of Switzerland’s health system as good or very...

Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation. © Alexey Novikov | Dreamstime.comEvery 3 years, the Foundation conducts a survey of the general population in eleven countries to investigate experiences of the health system. 88% of the 2,284 people surveyed across all of Switzerland rated the overall performance of Switzerland’s health system as good or very good. These results...

© Mcxas | Dreamstime.com This week, Switzerland’s federal government decided to increase aid money to Covid hit businesses to CHF 1 billion. Before this announcement, Bern had already committed to providing CHF 400 million to struggling businesses. Funding for the first CHF 400 million is split 50-50 between cantonal and federal tax payers. The additional CHF 600 million will be funded 80% out of the federal tax pot and 20% out of cantonal tax revenues. This means in...

This week, Switzerland’s federal government decided to increase aid money to Covid hit businesses to CHF 1 billion. © Mcxas | Dreamstime.comBefore this announcement, Bern had already committed to providing CHF 400 million to struggling businesses. Funding for the first CHF 400 million is split 50-50 between cantonal and federal tax payers. The additional CHF 600 million will be funded 80% out of the federal tax pot and 20% out of cantonal tax revenues. This means in aggregate 68% of...

Between the 3rd quarter 2019 and the 3rd quarter 2020, the number of people employed in Switzerland fell by 0.4% (–21 000). In addition, weekly hours worked per employee decreased by 2.7%. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.comDuring the same period, the unemployment rate in Switzerland as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) increased from 4.6% to 5.3%. At the end of September 2020, 260,000 workers were without work, an increase of 35,000 compared to the same date in 2019....

Swiss cantons have very different tax bases, tax rates and costs. To even things up rich cantons are required to help those with less money via a system set up in 2008 known as the péréquation financière nationale (French) or Nationaler Finanzausgleich (German). Zug pays the most – © Avkost | Dreamstime.comThis week, the government decided on next year’s payments. The system relies on complicated formulae based on the tax and cost bases of each canton. In 2021, the top three payers...

© Lauvergnat Laurent | Dreamstime.com Public worker absenteeism in Geneva costs at least CHF 285 million, according to Heidi.news, which calculated the sum based on information contained in an internal document. According to the news service the cost of absenteeism, which continues to rise, is equivalent to 11% of the 2.54 billion spent public sector workers’ salaries in 2019 and 3% of the canton’s total public sector spending that year. This is the first time that...

Public worker absenteeism in Geneva costs at least CHF 285 million, according to Heidi.news, which calculated the sum based on information contained in an internal document. © Lauvergnat Laurent | Dreamstime.comAccording to the news service the cost of absenteeism, which continues to rise, is equivalent to 11% of the 2.54 billion spent public sector workers’ salaries in 2019 and 3% of the canton’s total public sector spending that year. This is the first time that such information has...