The small chamber took its decision on Monday with 31 votes in favour, 11 against and one abstention. As early as September, she spoke out for the first time in favor of handing over 75 percent of the revenue to the cantons where the companies involved are located and only 25 percent to the federal government.
Proponents of this solution argued in particular that the new minimum tax would place Switzerland at a disadvantage in terms of international establishment competition. The cantons need money to increase the attractiveness of the location. Moreover, it is a widely supported compromise between the federal government, cantons and municipalities. All cantons indirectly benefited from this through the system of financial equalization. The Bundesrat also shared this view.
In particular, the city council warned against a popular no to the new constitutional article, especially cantons such as Zug or Basel-Stadt should receive money. The gap between high and low tax cantons must not increase any further. This requires – as decided by the National Council – a 50 percent federal share.
Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said the question had been given a weight it really didn’t deserve. Measured by the financial flows between the federal government and the cantons, this is not a lot of money.
Making the rich cantons a little poorer does nothing, says Maurer: “We need strong cantons.” The location cantons generally did not benefit from the tax reform. Rather, they are threatened with the exodus of companies.
The core of the OECD/G20 tax reform is a minimum tax rate of 15 percent for all companies with an annual turnover of more than EUR 750 million. According to the Federal Council, about 2,000 companies in Switzerland are affected by the reform. 600,000 purely nationally active SMEs are not covered by the new regulation.
The Bundesrat wants to introduce the new rules with an additional levy. The people and cantons are expected to vote on the necessary constitutional amendments in early summer 2023.
(SDA)