All cantons are in black

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For the first time in 14 years, all cantons are in the black on their state accounts for 2022. They ended about 4.59 billion francs better than budgeted. The reasons for this are careful budgeting, exceptionally high tax revenues and the high profit distribution of the National Bank.

The second best result since the corresponding data became available (1999) was in 2007, when only Ticino and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden were in the red. In 2021, five cantons had a negative result.

Martin Mosler, head of fiscal policy at the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy (IWP) at the University of Lucerne, is surprised that all cantons closed in surplus. After all, there were a number of factors beyond the canton’s control, such as the uncertain geopolitical situation resulting from the Russian war of aggression or the pressure of the global wave of inflation. “The fact that cantonal budgets have continued to withstand such shocks is a testament to the robustness of the Swiss economy,” says Moser.

Aftermath of Corona

FDK chairman Ernst Stocker explained the almost consistently better results than budgeted a month ago by saying that the cantons made their budgets for 2022 in 2021, so in the middle of the corona pandemic. However, the economy and the labor market developed better than expected at the time. The very high profit distribution by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) had a positive effect.

What is striking about the available cantonal state accounts is that the large cantons of Zurich and Bern, in particular, but also the two cantons of Basel and Geneva show exceptionally good results.

The cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Graubünden finished between 200 and 300 million francs better than expected. The surpluses in the cantons of Zug, Aargau, Solothurn and Ticino were more than CHF 100 million higher than budgeted.

Zurich miscalculated taxes

Zurich closed its annual accounts better than expected by more than CHF 1 billion. In particular, the canton miscalculated its tax revenue. CHF 964 million more than expected was received. Unpredictable extra income was also the high SNB payment and the higher profit distribution from the Zürcher Kantonalbank.

In the canton of Bern, tax revenues also ended up being 174 million francs higher than budgeted. Without the SNB payment of 480 million francs, a deficit of no less than 122 million francs would have arisen, Mosler calculates. The canton finally closed its annual accounts with a profit of CHF 358 million. The estimate showed a shortfall of CHF 88 million.

More income from real estate in Valais

According to Mosler, the unexpectedly high tax revenues in some cantons are likely driven by the recovery from the corona crisis. Ten of the 26 cantons would also have been budgeted conservatively without the profit distribution from the SNB. There were also canton-specific factors. For example, the canton of Valais generated additional income from the booming real estate market.

In some cantons, a surplus would probably have been possible even without the SNB distribution, as Mosler notes that the good labor market situation has led to unexpectedly high tax revenues. In Basel-City, the surplus amounted to CHF 217 million with an SNB contribution of CHF 91 million. Again, the reason for this was the tax revenue, which was 224 million higher than budgeted.

Only Nidwalden and Neuchatel worse

Nidwalden and Neuchâtel were the only cantons that ended worse than budgeted. Nidwaldner’s state accounts closed with a surplus of 1.2 million francs – a plus of 1.5 million francs had been budgeted. However, the canton accumulated CHF 28 million in reserves.

In Neuchâtel, the income surplus amounted to 6.4 million francs against the budgeted 10.3 million francs. However, the canton has also made additional provisions of CHF 61.6 million to cover various risks, including in the health sector. A provision of CHF 13.9 million was also set aside for tax purposes.

The numbers in detail:

(SDA)

Source:Blick