Tag Archives: Personal finance

[caption id="attachment_414651" align="alignleft" width="400"] © Tomas1111 | Dreamstime.com[/caption] Recently, the government of Portugal said it was looking at introducing a tax on foreigners residing in the country on special tax holidays, according to the magazine Bilan. Currently, foreigners moving to Portugal who spend at least 180 days a year in the country pay no income tax for a period of 10 years under a scheme that was launched 11...

Recently, the government of Portugal said it was looking at introducing a tax on foreigners residing in the country on special tax holidays, according to the magazine Bilan. © Tomas1111 | Dreamstime.comCurrently, foreigners moving to Portugal who spend at least 180 days a year in the country pay no income tax for a period of 10 years under a scheme that was launched 11 years ago. Not all income is tax free under the scheme. PWC, a tax consultancy, which describes Portugal as Europe’s...

It will come as little surprise to many that Switzerland has been ranked the world’s most expensive country. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comPut together by the magazine CEO World, the ranking pulls cost of living data on accommodation, clothing, taxi fares, utilities, internet, groceries, transport, and dining out, from a number of other studies. Norway ranks second, followed by Iceland, Japan, Denmark, Bahamas, Luxembourg, Israel, Singapore, and South Korea. The United States (20th),...

© Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com In 2018, the percentage of the population in Switzerland living below the poverty line fell from 8.2% (2017) to 7.9%, returning to the same level as it was in 2010. Most affected by poverty were those aged under 18 (9.6%) and those aged over 64 (13.7%). Single parent families (19.3%), those without tertiary education (12.7%) and those without Swiss citizenship (11.6%) were more likely to have incomes low enough to place them below the...

In 2018, the percentage of the population in Switzerland living below the poverty line fell from 8.2% (2017) to 7.9%, returning to the same level as it was in 2010. © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.comMost affected by poverty were those aged under 18 (9.6%) and those aged over 64 (13.7%). Single parent families (19.3%), those without tertiary education (12.7%) and those without Swiss citizenship (11.6%) were more likely to have incomes low enough to place them below the poverty line....

Following the success of the pre-sale of Roger Federer coins at the beginning of December 2019, a further 37,000 will be issued by Swissmint in various minting qualities on 23 January 2020. The coins are commemorative. In addition to coins featuring the well-known tennis star from Basel, there is a tiny (3mm diameter) gold coin sporting an image of the famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein who lived and studied in Switzerland. Einstein was a Swiss citizen from 1901 until his...

© Christian Heinz | Dreamstime.com A Swiss parliamentary commission, tasked with looking at the introduction of an environmental tax on flights departing from Switzerland, recently voted in favour a such a tax. A majority of 17 to 8 members voted in favour of the move. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 per passenger depending on flight distance and class. Passengers transiting through Switzerland would not pay the tax. Those travelling in private aircraft...

A Swiss parliamentary commission, tasked with looking at the introduction of an environmental tax on flights departing from Switzerland, recently voted in favour a such a tax. © Christian Heinz | Dreamstime.comA majority of 17 to 8 members voted in favour of the move. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 per passenger depending on flight distance and class. Passengers transiting through Switzerland would not pay the tax. Those travelling in private aircraft would be charged...

SNB building in Bern According to provisional calculations, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to make a profit of around CHF 49 billion in 2019. Most of this comes from the rising value of the SNB’s foreign currency positions (+CHF 40 billion) and a valuation gain on gold holdings (+CHF 6.9 billion). After adjusting reserves, the SNB will have CHF 88 billion available for distribution. Since the announcement SNB shares have risen 2% to CHF 5,600. The central bank...

Periodically, the Economist magazine judges the value of currencies based on the prices of Big Macs. © Rosalie Anareta | Dreamstime.comThis time around the burger price comparison found only two currencies to be overvalued relative to the US dollar: the Norwegian krone and the Swiss franc. The franc was almost 20% overvalued according to their analysis – click here for chart. Earlier in the week the US Treasury added Switzerland to its “monitoring list” of trading partners whose...