Swiss alliance of parties submits referendum against individual taxation

The alliance of parties and interest groups argue that individual taxation would place a heavier burden on families, single people and the middle class. Keystone-SDA

A non-partisan alliance submitted 65,672 signatures on Thursday in favour of a referendum against the introduction of individual taxation. According to the alliance, the reform passed by the Swiss parliament will probably be put to voters in March 2026.

The signatures were submitted by members of several parties: The Centre, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the Evangelical People’s Party, and the Christian ultra-conservative Federal Democratic Union, as well as the Swiss Farmers’ Association and an interest group for large families, IG Familie 3plus.

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According to this alliance, individual taxation would not abolish the marriage penalty, nor would it be fair or lead to greater equality. On the contrary, the alliance argued, it would place a heavier burden on families, single people and the middle class, while high-earning dual-income households would benefit.

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In particular, married couples with only one income or with very different incomes would have to pay significantly higher taxes in future than couples with similar incomes. Individual taxation complicates the tax system and disregards important family benefits, especially if one parent works unpaid, the alliance stated.

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Individual taxation is also a huge bureaucratic monster, according to the group. In future, married couples would have to complete two tax returns, which would mean around 1.7 million additional tax returns per year, it claimed. These would cause an enormous administrative burden, high costs and force an annual division of assets between the couple, the alliance concluded.

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Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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