Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss tax authorities Thursday published statistics on Swiss private “fortunes,” the difference between assets and liabilities on which the Swiss are taxed.

The most recent figures are fortunes for fiscal 2005: the numbers could well provoke more sorrow than interest from taxpayers whose assets are shrinking dramatically during the current financial crisis. Among them, Nicolas Hayak of Swatch fame, who told TSR he has lost CHF4-5 billion.

The total fortune for this nation of 7.7 million people with 4.6 million taxpayers was CHF1,165 billion (CHF1.165 trillion) for 2005. Zurich had nearly 25% of this wealth, with Vaud having 7.63% and Geneva just over 5%.

The country had 7,642 people with fortunes over CHF10 million: this 0.33% of the population had 27.8% of the wealth, while 24.7% of the population had no wealth, for tax purposes. Zurich had the largest number of people in this group, with 2,533 individuals, followed by Bern, 667; Geneva, 558; and Vaud with 495 individuals having more than CHF10 million.

The distribution of wealth varies considerably around the country. In Vaud, 17.71% of taxpayers had fortunes of between CHF200,000 and 500,000, the largest group, although more than 14% had fortunes over CHF10 million.

Zug, a canton with a reputation as a tax haven, had the most extreme differences, with over 39% of its fortune in the hands of taxpayers having fortunes larger than CHF10 million and no middle bulge. Geneva and Zurich were not far behind with nearly 30% and 28% respectively in this highest bracket.

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