Swiss government campaigns against The Centre’s tax initiative

Switzerland’s Federal Council has opened its campaign against The Centre party’s tax initiative, saying it has been made redundant by voters’ approval of individual taxation in March, SRF reports.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said the vote had already ended the “marriage penalty”, the government’s main argument against the proposal. The initiative will be put to a vote on November 29.

The initiative calls for married couples to continue being taxed jointly for federal income tax and for the Constitution to guarantee that they are not treated less favourably than unmarried couples. It proposes that tax authorities automatically apply whichever of two calculations gives a married couple the lower tax bill.

The government warns that approval would create administrative confusion: married couples would continue to be taxed jointly at federal level, while the individual taxation system approved by voters would apply to cantonal and municipal taxes. It also says the initiative would favour married couples over unmarried people and that joint taxation creates barriers for second earners, most of whom are women, undermining their financial independence.

Depending on how it was implemented, the initiative could also lead to annual tax losses of up to three billion francs, the government says.