New study calls Zurich top business location
Zurich has come out ahead of several other leading European cities as having the most favourable financial policies for business in a new German survey.
The report from the Centre for Economic Research in Mannheim compared Zurich’s marginal rates with those in Geneva, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Strasburg, Amsterdam and London.
Marginal tax rates in Zurich and Geneva are up to two times lower than in other cities surveyed. In the industrial sector the rate is 13.8 per cent in Zurich and 13.9 per cent in Geneva.
In Germany, the rate is between 25.8 and 27.3 per cent, while in Strasburg it reaches 30.7 per cent.
Service industries benefit from lower marginal tax rates across Europe but there are again marked differences between the Swiss cities and their European competitors.
Rates in Zurich (5.1 per cent) and Geneva (5.5 per cent) are much lower than those in Germany (16.1 to 17.5 per cent) or France (19.6 per cent).
These differences are largely due to much lower taxes on net profit in Switzerland than in neighbouring countries.
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