Swiss initiatives seek to end discrimination of married couples
Switzerland’s Centre Party has handed in signatures for two initiatives aimed at "achieving justice for married couples” by ending discrimination linked to taxes and pensions.
The two popular initiatives, entitled “Yes to fair taxes” and “Yes to fair AHV pensions”, were handed to the Federal Chancellery in Bern on Wednesday, with 102,355 and 105,931 signatures, respectively.
Married and registered couples have to pay higher federal taxes than couples who live together. According to the federal government, in 2019 around 454,000 working couples and 250,000 retired couples in Switzerland were affected by a so-called “marriage penalty”.
The abolition of the “marriage penalty” has been a political issue for years. The Federal Court ruled in 1984 that tax discrimination against married and registered couples compared to cohabiting couples was unconstitutional.
+ Tax breaks for married couples rejected by Swiss voters
The Centre Party initiative now calls for an alternative tax bill to be presented for married people in addition to the joint federal tax, based on the tariff and deductions for unmarried people. Under its proposal a couple would then pay the lower amount. The Centre Party wants to maintain the principle of joint taxation.
The Centre Party also wants to end a “marriage penalty” in the old-age and survivors’ insurance (OASI) pension system. Today married people do not receive an individual OASI state pension per person; together a couple receives a maximum of one-and-a half times the maximum state pension. Retired couples who are not married get two individual state pensions. The Centre Party’s second initiative therefore wants to end any reductions in pensions for married people.
+ Switzerland moves to scrap unfair tax on married couples
Individual taxation is currently a top issue under discussion in the Federal Council and parliament. According to the proposal validated by the government in February, the income and assets of married couples should be divided according to civil law, as is already the case with unmarried people.
Individual taxation is foreseen at all levels of government. For direct federal tax, the Federal Council estimates a revenue shortfall of around CHF1 billion a year based on 2024 figures.
Parliament must now decide. But individual taxation has been rejected by a majority of political parties. A consultation concluded that the radical restructuring of the tax system would create new injustices.
The centre-right Radical-Liberal Party, Green Liberal Party and business groups supported the proposal. It is hoped that individual taxation will encourage more married people to take up gainful employment or increase their workload.
Adapted from French by DeepL/sb
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