Tag Archives: Personal finance

A survey by Tamedia offers clues to why 52.7% of Swiss voters rejected the pension reform plan that was put to a vote last Sunday. © Michelle Meiklejohn – Dreamstime 20% of those voting “no” thought it was a pseudo reform that didn’t go far enough, while 26% felt it left too much of a burden on younger taxpayers. In 1981, when the life expectancy of an average Swiss woman was 79.2 years, the average time spent collecting the state pension was 15.2 years. Now an average Swiss woman can expect...

Some who move to Switzerland might not be aware that they are almost certainly required to pay one of the world’s highest broadcasting fees. An annual Swiss licence costs CHF 451.10 per household. © Jacek Chabraszewski | Dreamstime A successful vote in 2015 changed the rules on who must pay the fee. From 2019, it will be compulsory for anyone with a primary or secondary residence in Switzerland to pay it, effectively making it a tax on all households. At a new lower price of CHF 400 It will...

Many people employed in Swiss homes are undeclared. According to one estimate the amount of unpaid social security taxes on the total paid to these people could be as high as CHF 320 million a year. © Tomislav Pinter | Dreamstime Quitt.ch, a company that helps people with the administration around employing home help, reckons between 200,000 and 250,000 of the 400,000 people employed in homes in Switzerland are unregistered, a figure supported by a number of other studies. According to...

Switzerland’s federal council, the country’s seven-person executive or cabinet, has come up with a plan to cut those exorbitant mobile roaming phone bills that many of us return home to after trips abroad, an experience which hurts even more now roaming charges have been eliminated for EU residents. © Ocusfocus | Dreamstime The roaming proposal is part of a wide-ranging revision to Switzerland’s telecommunications laws, the first since 2007. The updated laws would give the government new...

Switzerland’s federal council, the country’s seven-person executive or cabinet, has come up with a plan to cut those exorbitant mobile roaming phone bills that many of us return home to after trips abroad, an experience which hurts even more now roaming charges have been eliminated for EU residents. © Ocusfocus | Dreamstime The roaming proposal is part of a wide-ranging revision to Switzerland’s telecommunications laws, the first since 2007. The updated laws would give the government new...

20 Minutes. In Switzerland, home owners have to add a theoretical rent to their taxable income. This means home ownership can increase your annual tax bill, sometimes substantially. © Ana Vasileva | Dreamstime For many home owners the tax effect of the theoretical or imputed rent is cancelled out by deductions for mortgage interest and home maintenance expenses, however those who have repaid their mortgage or never...

20 Minutes. In Switzerland, home owners have to add a theoretical rent to their taxable income. This means home ownership can increase your annual tax bill, sometimes substantially. © Ana Vasileva | Dreamstime For many home owners the tax effect of the theoretical or imputed rent is cancelled out by deductions for mortgage interest and home maintenance expenses, however those who have repaid their mortgage or never had one can be forced to pay substantially more tax for the the pleasure of...

20 Minutes. In Switzerland, home owners have to add a theoretical rent to their taxable income. This means home ownership can increase your annual tax bill, sometimes substantially. © Ana Vasileva | Dreamstime For many home owners the tax effect of the theoretical or imputed rent is cancelled out by deductions for mortgage interest and home maintenance expenses, however those who have repaid their mortgage or never had one can be forced to pay substantially more tax for the the pleasure of...

In June 2017, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced plans to reduce the discounts offered to those willing to risk paying the first chunk of their annual medical bills. The plan included reducing the maximum premium discounts given for opting for deductibles, the amount paid by the insured before insurance kicks in. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge On Tuesday, according to 20 Minutes, a commission for...

A survey by price comparison site comparis.ch found 40% would struggle if Swiss health insurance premiums rose significantly in 2018. © Subbotina | Dreamstime The survey questioned 700 people across all of Switzerland. 20% of families said they couldn’t cope with a rise of CHF 10 a month and 13% said they couldn’t cope with a CHF 20 monthly rise. 17% of single people said an extra CHF 20 a month would break their budgets. When asked why they thought premiums continued to rise, those surveyed...