Swiss president: ‘We already have a fair tax system’
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Swiss president: ‘We already have a fair tax system’
Swiss voters have clearly rejected a political experiment by rejecting the inheritance tax initiative, says Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. She emphasised that the tax system and climate policy in Switzerland were working.
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“The introduction of a national inheritance tax would have unbalanced our tax system,” Keller-Sutter, who also holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, told the media in Bern on Sunday. “This would have damaged Switzerland’s attractiveness.”
According to Keller-Sutter, the resounding no to the referendum was a commitment to Switzerland as a business location. However, the vote does not mean a rejection of climate policy, she said. It is just that the initiators’ concerns have already been fulfilled. After all, Switzerland invests around CHF2 billion ($2.5 billion) a year in climate protection, she said.
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Keller-Sutter also believed that the tax system did not need to be fundamentally changed. “We already have enough redistribution today.” The wealthy contribute a lot to tax revenue. “These people finance a considerable part of the state’s tasks.”
It is important that the initial situation has now been clarified. she said. Keller-Sutter said that the people had made a clear statement in favour of keeping the wealthy. She hoped that they were all still there. At the beginning of the debate on the left-wing initiative, several large companies threatened to move away.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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