Switzerland's option to keep quotas until 2014 in case of excessive immigration was written into 2004 agreement
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Reactions were swift and negative from a number of European Union leaders to Switzerland’s decision to revive quotas for the EU-8 States, announced 18 April.
Their objection doesn’t question Switzerland’s right to extend its transition period for handling immigration beyond 2011, but focuses rather on Switzerland’s treatment of the group separately from the rest of the European Union, with at least one European parliamentarian saying that the move runs counter to the spirit of EU-Swiss agreement on the free movement of people. The agreement in fact built in this option for the Swiss.
That decision revives old negotiated deals dating back several years, covering how Swiss-EU bilateral agreements would handle an enlarged group of European States, a spokesperson for the ministry for the economy has told GenevaLunch.
The two sides had failed, by early2004, to reach an agreement after nine negotiating sessions that began in 2003. The European Union wanted the 10 new members to be added to negotiations already underway and Switzerland said no.
The compromise solution reached at their sixth session allowed for options based on different economic scenarios, notably giving Switzerland the right, in case of a clearly defined case of “excessive immigration” to revive quotas for eight of the 10 new countries, with Romania and Bulgaria handled separately. Switzerland, under the terms of the agreement, also has the right to ask for salary information and ensure that labour laws are respected.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – WRS public radio faces a decision in June by its parent SSR (Swiss Public Broadcasting) to either close it or sell it, but the station’s fans don’t intend to let it die without a fight.
A private group has launched a petition-signing campaign, Save WRS, to at least give voice to the complaints that public funding of English-language radio should not end, although the petition carries no legal weight.
The station itself is not involved in the campaign, but Philippe Mottaz, who cannot comment while the station’s future is under discussion at SSR, has told GenevaLunch that “The amount and quality of the support received from our listeners on our website reinforces our conviction that WRS provides an invalubale service accross the country to both Swiss and foreign listeners.”
Future holds no quick or easy answers
A spokesperson at Ofcom, the federal department that oversees radio licenses, told GenevaLunch that what will happen if SSR maintains its decision to close or sell is at best complicated: the company “can’t just sell as they want – they would need to get the okay from the Federal Council. The council would then need to decide to create a new regional radio.”
The issue is more complex than whether or not to create another station because Bern is phasing out FM radio, as is happening in other countries, and promoting DAB radio.
Bern admits 2008 programme has “not always worked as planned”
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss federal government plans to put more federal money into providing medical and other help for asylum seekers who are being repatriated when their requests are denied and to increase financial incentives that would encourage more to return voluntarily to their home countries, it said Wednesday 18 April. The new system would give those who are returning CHF500 instead of the current CHF200 as an indemnity for the trip. Requests for asylum rose 63 percent in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a year earlier, and Bern wants to speed up the process of sending home those who do not qualify.
The plans to increase and redirect funding involve modifying three ordinances: financing for asylum seekers, for the integration of foreigners, and for repatriation and expulsion of foreigners.
The modifications are open to public consultation until 8 August.
Decision says US request was not in line with tax agreement
Tribunal confirms to GenevaLunch that decision was based on 1996 agreement
Update 2 15:00 BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Administrative Court has struck a blow to US-Swiss tax administrative assistance discussions, ruling in favour of a Credit Suisse client who appealed a decision by Bern to hand over some bank account data to the IRS, the US government’s tax office.
The court notes, in a statement that could have wider implications, that “the Court reaffirms its case law that under the DTC USA-Switzerland 96 administrative assistance shall not be granted for presumed tax evasion, even if high amounts are at stake. It also confirms that the mere failure to declare a bank account may be qualified – at the utmost – as a tax evasion, which is not subject to administrative assistance.”
A court spokesperson told GenevaLunch that “The Court took its decision regarding the said case applying the agreement in force, ie the Double Taxation Convention USA-Switzerland 96″ since the new amendment is pending in the US Senate.
The Financial Times last month pointed out that “Legally, ratification of the change – via an amendment to a bilateral double tax treaty – has been blocked in the US Senate by presidential candidate Ron Paul.”
The court’s decision is final in Switzerland and cannot be appealed to the Swiss Supreme Court, the federal administrative judges note. The court rules on appeals to decisions made by the federal government and is the final authority for these; it is Switzerland’s largest federal court, with 75 judges.
No official government comment yet
The Swiss Federal Council has not yet issued a statement commenting on the ruling, which appears to complicate ongoing discussions about applying the newly approved double taxation agreement of 2009. The Swiss Parliament approved it 6 March, but the US Congress has not debated it or approved it. The amendment allows bank client data to be provided in some cases of suspected tax evasion and not just fraud, even if client names are not provided in a demand for administrative assistance.
Court’s review of US request shows conditions not met
The US asked for administrative assistance 26 September 2011 concerning clients at 11 Swiss banks. The court ruled 5 April, and published the results 11 April, that the requests were “too vague” and did not comply with the current treaty:
“The Federal Administrative Court concluded that the ‘search criteria’ for the identification of bank clients (category 2), as set out in the request for administrative assistance, are formulated in terms encompassing above all mere tax evasion, for which administrative assistance cannot be granted according to the applicable Double Taxation Convention USA-Switzerland 96. This is inconsistent with the principle of proportionality, which applies to proceedings regarding administrative assistance as well.”
The only fraudulent behaviour may be that of some Credit Suisse employees, it says, but that cannot be extended to the client in the case under review.
“The request for administrative assistance does not indicate the names of the bank clients, but only describes the above-mentioned conduct of the CS employees. Furthermore, it contains four categories of identification criteria, through which the bank can determine the clients concerned by the request for administrative assistance.
“The Federal Administrative Court holds that the conduct of the CS employees, as set forth in the request for administrative assistance, from which the conduct of the clients themselves may also be deduced, is covered by the term ‘tax fraud or the like’ in the sense of the DTC USA-Switzerland 96.”
New rules more flexible, but US requests cannot be vague
The new amendment was widely reported to be more flexible but Swiss cautionary notes that “fishing expeditions” would still not be allowed were glossed over by media. The court decision underscores the vagueness of the IRS request.
The Swiss federal government clarified the situation in a report published 10 February, a month before the parliament’s vote, “Report on international financial and tax matters 2012″:
“Switzerland has been holding talks with the United States on unresolved tax issues for more than a year. These talks relate to the US investigations into alleged infringements of US tax legislation by Swiss banks and the potential handover of client data. Under Swiss law, client data may be handed over as part of an administrative assistance procedure at federal level, but not directly by a bank. The objective of the negotiations with the US authorities is to find a solution that is compatible with Switzerland’s current legal framework.
“The cases of the directly affected banks are to be dealt with through requests for administrative assistance: in the case of tax fraud in accordance with the existing double taxation agreement (DTA) of 1996, and in the case of both tax fraud and tax evasion in accordance with the new – but not yet ratified – DTA of 2009. Under the existing DTA, requests for assistance are possible even without the provision of specific names or personal details, as long as an alternative form of identification is supplied. Applications on the basis of specific patterns of behaviour should also be possible under the new DTA without the provision of specific names or personal details.”
Update: Interviews in French on RTS news with the president of the Tribunal, who says another 30 similar cases are in line to be reviewed by the court, and with a lawyer who notes that if the new amendment to the treaty were in effect the court might have ruled differently.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 50-year-old Swiss man from the Jura was arrested in March, canton Vaud police announced 4 April, during a break-in in Delemont, while the family was off at a funeral. Police had been tracking him since January after a number of thefts, mainly of money and jewelry, that followed announcements in newspapers of a death.
An investigation has been opened into what appears to be 20 break-ins during the time people have left their homes while at funerals. The robberies occurred mainly in canton Vaud, but some were committed in Neuchatel, Fribourg, Jura, and Bern.
Swiss taxi waiting for customer - Photo courtesy of TaxiSwiss
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss cantons and communes should allow greater competition among taxi services, says Comco, the Swiss Competition Commission. Services from other areas should be given more freedom, in particular the commission says.
Local authorities in several major Swiss cities are not applying federal competition regulations, says Comco, citing the federal Internal Markets Law, when it comes to allowing out-of -area taxis to work within their communes. Comco’s report, issued last week, is based on research into taxi services in Basel, Zurich and Bern.
The report recommends that authorities issue operating concessions (licenses) to taxis from other localities and that they open parking areas for taxis to all cab operators without discrimination.
A recent German study shows cab fares in Swiss cities to be much pricier than those in Germany and Austria.
Swiss calves, just too cute to resist? Wohlen, Switzerland
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Farmers Andreas and Franziska Knutti have been completely caught by surprise by the media hype from abroad over their six-legged calf Lilli. Blick ran the story, which was picked up by AP in English and other languages, and soon the family was receiving media calls from The Netherlands and Sweden, reports local paper BernerZeitung, which says the Knuttis have been taken aback by the massive interest in a freak event in nature.
Ironically, since many of the headlines are about Lilli the Swiss media star, there has been very limited interest in the story in Switzerland, where cute calves are the norm, farmers are used to dealing with animals’ problems, and the main question about Lilli now seems to be why a birth defect is making her such a hit elsewhere.
The emphasis abroad has been on the calve’s perky nature, but the farming couple are reported by Swiss-German media to say they’ll have to see how her development goes; one of their concerns is to be sure she doesn’t suffer pain, for example, back pain from the extra legs as she grows.
Two earlier calves with six legs failed to gain the same notoriety
Lissy in Bavaria in 2009 had a similar birth defect and nobody paid much attention.
Extra limbs are unusual but the hype over Lilli may be linked to the need for Internet media to boost news page numbers with colourful stories, tabloid style, and the photos of Lilli show a pert little calf. And calves that grow up give milk and from milk the Swiss make chocolate and ca, c’est vachement bon!
The Milwaukee Journal ran a story in 1996 when a Cuba City couple had a calf with six legs, with two on the back just as Lilli and Lissy have had, but as a PIC (pre-Internet calf), you won’t find much about it, including whether or not it lived to a ripe old age. Also, it was a boy, and try as you might, you won’t make chocolate from that.
Swiss taxi waiting for customer - Photo courtesy of TaxiSwiss
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ever feel like it’s more expensive taking a cab in Switzerland than in other countries? It’s not your imagination. According to a comparative study of taxi rates in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, for most types of trips, the Swiss have the highest daytime cab fares.
The German portal ab-in-den-urlaub.de, compared taxicab fares in 128 cities in the three countries. The results show that taking a taxi in a Swiss city costs twice as much as in most major German cities. The highest rates are found in Basel and Bern, with Geneva and Zurich not far behind.
The survey compared the base price, standard rate-per-kilometer and cost for 20 minutes in traffic.
On average, a 5-km ride including five minutes of traffic stops costs more than CHF28 in Switzerland. In western Germany, the same trip goes for less than CHF9. In Berlin or Hamburg, it is less than CHF15. Vienna cab fares are even lower.
Hailing a cab in Bern costs CHF6.80 plus CHF3.90 for the first kilometer. The price decreases only slightly in Basel CHF6.70, Geneva CHF6.50 and Zurich CHF6.20. Lugano is the least expensive of the large Swiss cities at CHF5.20. Although Lausanne was not included in the German study, cab fares are similar to those in Zurich.
Hailing a cab in Berlin costs less than CHF4 while in Vienna it is considerably less at just over CHF3. However, don’t let the low base price fool you; sitting in Vienna traffic for 20 minutes costs CHF15.75 while in Zurich the rate is “only” CHF11.50.
Lights out Saturday night for Geneva's most important buildings
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The city of Geneva is one of 30 in Switzerland that will join the worldwide Earth Hour project and turn out lights on public buildings Saturday 31 March from 20:30 to 21:30.
This is the fourth year of Earth Hour, begun by WWF, designed to raise awareness of climate change and the impact on our environment. One billion people are expected to be affected by this year’s lights out action in 135 countries. Some 5,000 cities are taking part around the world.
Geneva is home to the World Meteorological Organization, the global climate measurement centre. The city’s most important buildings, where the lights will go out, include: Palais Eynard, Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, Monument Brunswick, Grand Théâtre, musée Rath and the Conservatoire de musique (place Neuve), ‘île Rousseau (bastion entourant l’île), Eglise russe, Temple de Saint-Gervais, pont Sous-Terre, Palais Wilson, Musée Voltaire, Temple de la Fusterie, Poste du Mont-Blanc.
Police in Vaud and Geneva join forces to combat cross-border theft
Number of assaults in Geneva fell in 2011
Violent crimes fell in Geneva in 2011: orange shows simple injuries and yellow serious plus homicides (Source: Geneva Police / OFS statistics)
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Geneva tops the Swiss list for a 2011 rise in property crimes, including break-ins and theft, but Lausanne, Basel, Bern and Zurich also saw increases last year that outpaced population growth and were well above the national average of 71 per 1,000 inhabitants.
Geneva’s violent crimes, including all degrees and forms of assault, fell in 2011, however; one exception was the increase from 4 (2008) to 15 knife attacks, in four years.
Urban border regions in western Switzerland in particular have seen cross-border burglary increases and Tuesday the cantonal ministers in charge of police for Geneva and Vaud announced a joint task force to step up coordination with French police to tackle the problem.
They are also calling for tougher penalties against repeat offenders and note that the “Lake Geneva region appears to have become a privileged target for robbers.”
Two features of the cross-border crime that are worrying police in Geneva, reports swissinfo, are the number of under-age Balkans working in theft in a stretch from Milan to Paris and a shift from street crime to burglaries by a group of about 400 North Africans living illegally in Geneva.
Burglaries in Geneva rose 29 percent in 2011, break-ins 19 percent and vehicle theft 9 percent
The new European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics 2010 indicates that Switzerland has one of the highest rates of criminal problems linked to migration, but the most recent figures are five years old, covering 2003-2007, and European reporting standards differ. The UK, for example, records ethnic background rather than nationality for criminals arrested, while Switzerland, which has one of Europe’s highest rates of resident foreigners, lists nationality.
Geneva and Basel are the only two cantons with 2011 crime rates higher than 100 per 1,000: 159 for Geneva and 119 for Basel (source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office)
Crime statistics for Switzerland for 2011 were released Monday by the Federal Statistical Office in Neuchatel, and include cantonal details.
Cantonal police have been releasing highway and accident statistics in the past few days.
Overall, numbers show a mixed safety picture, with property crimes up, more foreigners entering and re-entering the country illegally and who are often linked to other crimes.
Nationwide, violent crimes are down by 7 percent and in the Lake Geneva region there were fewer road accidents.
Geneva was the subject of much media hype in 2011 about personal safety and crime but the statistics don’t bear out complaints that the city is unsafe, physically, although residents and visitors would do well to watch their cars, motorbikes and bags, with theft on the rise.
Vaud saw its overall crime rate jump 18.6 percent, with a 14 percent increase in break-ins and 7 percent increase in robberies. Country-wide the rate of break-ins rose 16 percent. Car theft was up by 4 percent.
A concern in Vaud is the “massive presence of Bulgarian and Romanian prostitutes, implying a potential problem with human trafficking,” the canton notes in a press release. Police closed down immediately 7 of the more than 700 massage parlours they checked during the year.
Regional trains, especially in border areas, suffered losses as tourism dropped when the franc climbed
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Four rail groups are receiving CHF21 million in aid from the Swiss government to offset some of the losses they suffered in 2011 due to the rapid increase in the value of the Swiss franc during the year.
All four provide transalpine shipping and use combined or piggyback cargo transport, carrying trucks to reduce the environmental impact on the Alps.
The government in 2011 set aside more than CHF28m in credit for which companies could apply, showing the losses directly linked to the currency’s sudden rise. Four presented their figures at the start of 2012 and will be helped out of the funds set aside: BLS Cargo, CFF Cargo International, Crossrail and TX Logistik.
Another CHF11.2m was distributed in December 2011 to a number of transport companies, mainly regional, which lost money because of a sharp fall in tourism due to the high franc.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – A few dozen anti-World Economic Forum protesters, a small crowd estimated by one news agency at 100 persons, were stopped by police from four cantons Saturday 21 January in Bern. The group, which did not have a police permit, was protesting against capitalism and the forum, which starts 24 January in Davos, canton Graubuenden. They were detained while police checked their IDs.
The large police turnout was organized after calls for violence went out, according to one police official quoted by Swiss news agency ats.
Electric lights on Christmas trees are safer than candles, especially as the trees begin to dry out (new LED lights use far less electricity)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Two people, ages 57 and 65, suffered from shock and light burns Wednesday 4 January when their Christmas tree caught fire in their apartment in Bex.
Vaud police did not provide details but say the fire was caused by negligence.
Le Matin (Fr) noted in an article Wednesday that fires are frequently sparked by Christmas trees at the end of the holiday season and this year is no exception: they caused three fires last Thursday alone in three cantons.
A fire linked to candles on a Christmas tree in Grand-Saconnex in Geneva 27 December completely destroyed an apartment and two others in canton Bern Saturday caused several thousand francs in damage, according to the Swiss centre for fire prevention.
St Prex, a Vaud town of 5,100 people, inaugurated its new state-of-the-art recycling centre in 2011, now a busy place
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Batteries over 5kg will be taxed at purchase, rather than when they are recycled, starting 1 January 2012, says Bern. Household and small batteries currently carry a recycling tax, at purchase, but not larger ones, such as car batteries and industrial ones.
The new system is designed to boost the rate of recycling from last year’s 69 percent to at least 80 percent.
The change is also designed to ensure funds for collecting, transporting and recycling batteries, work that the federal government assigns to Inobat, a private organization based in Bern. By law, businesses in Switzerland that sell anything with batteries are obliged to take used batteries from customers; the country has some 11,000 collection points.
Swiss are world champion glass recyclers, some way to go on batteries
Some of the money collected by the revised tax will also be used for consumer education, to increase awareness of the need to recycle batteries and to raise the rate of recycling, 69 percent at 31 December 2010. The federal government has set a goal of 80 percent recycled batteries to preserve Switzerland’s natural resources. The figure is well below those for recycling several other items. The Swiss are world champion glass recyclers, with a 94 percent rate.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Egyptian and Swiss legal experts met Friday 2 December to “take stock of progress made so far and to strengthen bilateral cooperation” for “an efficient restitution of any assets of illicit origin from the entourage of the former Mubarak regime”, says the Swiss Justice Department.
Switzerland froze about CHF410 million in assets in the name of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage 11 February 2011.
Egypt has made several requests for mutual legal assistance to Switzerland, related to the assets. Bern says these are being reviewed by Swiss authorities.
The delegations were satisfied with the discussions, according to Bern and will continue with follow-up meetings at regular intervals, with the next one at the end of January 2012.
Vienna comes out number one, Paris is 30 and London 38, Geneva sixth safest
Bern's new bear park on the riverfront; Bern is the world's second safest city in 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Mercer’s list of top cities in the world in terms of quality of living shows three Swiss cities in the top 10 in 2011 and three German cities, but Austria’s Vienna remains in the number one slot.
Zurich is second, Geneva and Bern are eighth and ninth respectively, with Munich and Dusseldorft fourth and fifth and Frankfurt in seventh place.
Completing the top 10: Auckland, New Zealand is third, Vancouver, Canada ties with Dusseldorf for fifth and Copenhagen, Denmark ties with Bern for ninth place.
Personal safety puts Bern and Zurich in world’s top five
The theme of this year’s Mercer report is personal safety as a result of upheavals in many parts of the world and growing concern on the part of companies and organizations about the safety of their employees. “The information and data obtained through the Quality of Living Reports (the “Reports”) are for information purposes only and are intended for use by multi-national organizations and government agencies. They are not designed or intended to use as the basis for foreign investment or tourism,” London-based Mercer notes in publishing its rankings.
Geneva’s media reports of a less safe city at odds with sixth-safest city in the world rank
Tourists snapping iPhone shots of the jet d'eau in Geneva, sixth safest city in the world
The Mercer survey ranks Geneva sixth in terms of personal safety worldwide, a number that will reassure Geneva’s authorities, who were in a for a barrage of media fire earlier in the year for a perceived decline in safety.
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, whose home is in Geneva and whose political career as a Socialist Party member was built in the city, said Monday that a joint federal-cantonal commission she pushed for earlier in the year is reviewing safety in the city.
It is currently taking an inventory of the situation, she said, without giving a date for the commission to provide its report.
But the federal government, which contributes CHF50 million directly to support “international Geneva”, is “concerned” about reports that the city is less safe than it used to be, she told journalists at a press conference.
Calmy-Rey is retiring from the federal government this week, but she said Monday she expects to remain active in politics.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit Bern 16-17 October
BERN, SWITZERLAND – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be received in Bern 17 October by a Swiss delegation led by President Micheline Calmy-Rey, for an official working visit. It is the UN leader’s first official Swiss visit since April 2007.
The agenda covers “a number of UN-related themes of mutual interest,” Bern says in its announcement, in particular setting priorities.
Ban Ki-moon will be in Bern 16 October to attend the inaugural ceremony of the 125th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, which Switzerland is hosting.
During his visit to Bern he will meet with six youths from different Arab nations, all of whom have been involved in Arab Spring protests.
Zurich, one of three Swiss cities that will benefit from new jobs
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The QS World University Rankings 2011-2012, published independently since 2010 and considered one of the main global education ranking systems, show EPFL in Lausanne slipping from slot no. 32 to 35, but ETHZ in Zurich holding its no. 18 place, just behind McGill in Canada and ahead of Duke in the US.
EPFL has gone up slightly with Leiden and remained at the same level with the Shanghai rankings in recent years, while since ETHZ has held steady with QS and Shanghai but gone up with Leiden. EPFL offers 20 programmes and ETHZ 44.
Swiss state universities that are given a world ranking: The University of Geneva is ranked 71, Basel University 137, Bern 162, Zurich 101.
The QS system was originally published jointly by universities by Quacquarelli Symonds, a UK-based company, jointly with Times Higher Education (THE), but the two split in 2010 to use different methodologies for determining rankings. The new QS system should not be confused with the older THE-QS World University Rankings.
THE publishes its new rankings in October.
Other major rankings systems, most of which show some national bias: Shanghai Jiao Tong, The CHE Ranking, The Leiden Ranking, CHE EUSID, Newsweek, several Financial Times specialty rankings, and the Karriere Hochschulranking.
The Swiss education department publishes a useful web site in four languages (including English) with a searchable data base of all the rankings for comparative purposes.
Highlights of the new QS rankings include:
- Cambridge is number 1 but close behind are Harvard, MIT, Yale and Oxford for the top five
- The top 10 are all US or UK universities
- Chinese mainland universities are inching up, with two of them, Peking and Tsinghua, in the top 50
Swiss taxes varied considerably from one city to another in 2010
Swiss taxes take a bigger bite in Neuchatel than in Zug
Update 22 July (new files added at end) BERN, SWITZERLAND – That magic moment in the year is here, when Bern tells Swiss taxpayers where they were best off, living or dying, in 2010, so the rest of the holidays can be spent planning a move. There is Zug, for those who are rich and single, or if you are married and have two children and you’re living in Neuchatel, Zug but also Geneva will look very good.
Federal income tax is a small part of the three-tiered tax system, with cantonal taxes usually the largest and communal taxes varying the most widely. Zug retains its champion’s title of the cheapest place in Switzerland from a tax standpoint, while Neuchatel remains one of the most expensive, for individuals.
Sample comparisons culled from the 2010 figures, published 21 July by the Federal tax office:
Single, no children, cantonal, communal and parish (if Catholic) taxes, on income of CHF100,000
Add on CHF2,067 for federal income tax
Zurich: CHF11,637 / 9.64%
Zug: CHF6,148 / 5.08%
Bern: CHF14,982 / 14.98%
Basel: CHF16,472 / 16.47%
Lausanne: CHF16,162 /16.06%
Neuchatel: CHF18,639 / 18.64%
Geneva: CHF15’370 / 15.37%
If you make CHF200,000, tax rates range from Zug’s 9.72% to Neuchatel’s 23.71%.
Married, two children, cantonal, communal and parish (if Catholic) taxes, federal tax not included, on income of CHF100,00, one spouse working
Add on CHF907 for federal income tax
Zurich: CHF6,136 / 6.14%
Zug: CHF6,148 / 5.08%
Bern: CHF8,710 / 8.71%
Basel: CHF7,690 / 7.69%
Lausanne: CHF9,175 /9.18%
Neuchatel: CHF10,054 / 10.05%
Geneva: CHF3,202 / 3.20%
If you make CHF200,000, tax rates range from Zug’s 4.43% to Neuchatel’s 17.91%.
When both spouses work the tax rate tends to be 2-3 percentage points higher, except in Zug, where it is half the rate, and in Geneva, where it is double the rate.
Inheritance taxes: avoid Graubuenden
Swiss inheritance taxes are not collected by several cantons, but Graubuenden has the highest rate and Lausanne is the rare city to collect a communal tax in addition to the cantonal one. It’s better to be a son or daughter inheriting than to inherit from a brother or sister, and beware, nieces and nephews, you’ll have to pay more when your uncle’s lovely chalet passes into your hands.
Swiss tax burden, by canton (Ger/Fre), pdf
Swiss tax burden, comparison, communes, pdf
Protect the sheep from the wolf or the wolf from the man or is there a way to do both, asks Bern
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Bring up hunting and fishing, protecting the environment and the population’s growing use of nature areas, and you can expect passions to rise quickly. This is exactly what the Swiss government found when it put out for public consultation its proposed changes to hunting and fishing laws, the first in 25 years.
The changes, announced in April 2011, would provide wildlife populations with greater protection from human activities, especially leisure use of the outdoors, by creating nature reserve zones.
The new law would provide a number of birds with greater protection, starting with a ban on buckshot with lead to hunt fowl, improved measures to prevent the introduction of non-native animals and longer periods where hunting is not allowed, to protect native species, including carrion crows, jays and magpies. Hunters will be able to go after rooks, on the other hand, because their growing European population is a problem.
Populations and hunting measures for protected animal species, including lynx, wolves and beavers, will be regulated on a regional basis if they are causing too much damage, under the new law—with the stipulation that their populations must be large and stable enough to maintain the diversity of species. Any such measures by cantons must have prior federal government approval.
The consultation period ended 15 July and Bern is now grappling with the thorny problem of how to take into account some 80 strongly voiced and opposing points of view from several organization and individuals, especially over the issue of predatory animals.
Cantonal and federal bodies are mostly in agreement with the proposed changes, according to Detec (the federal department for the environment, energy, transport and communications). Farmers, hunters, fishermen and animal protection groups have come out strongly against specific aspects of the law, but often for diametrically opposed reasons.
Switzerland is home to the Bern Convention, which protects wolves, but the country has also been the scene of an ongoing battle between animal rights groups and farmers, particularly in canton Valais, where the small wolf population has cost farmers by going after herds of sheep.
Source: Napra 2011
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Commission is calling for more information as part of the second stage of a search for deep nuclear waste disposal sites.
In particular it wants to see additional seismic studies, a detailed report on the methodology that will be used to compare potential sites and verification of the technical concepts behind the storage plans as well as optional access plans for the ramp-free storage areas.
The commission is not convinced that even after the additional work is done it will be possible to move on from the second to the third stage of the project and it is calling for an evaluation report at that point.
The second stage of the siting process calls for a clear profile to be drawn up for each of the sites and their suitability. The third stage will involve comparing the sites, to select the most appropriate.
Source: Napra 2011
Six sites were identified in 2008 by Nagra, a national cooperative whose members are the federal government and Switzerland’s five nuclear power plant operators.
The federal Nuclear Energy Inspection office reviewed the reports on the sites and published its conclusions in March 2011, calling for additional assessments, and the next step is the approval of the safety commission.
Nagra has said there is a wealth of detailed information about each site: its geometry, structures, host rock hydrogeological conditions, long-term tectonic development including erosion. The studies are the result of seismic and geophysical studies, drillings, outcrops, tunneling, geological sampling and underground laboratories.
Nagra describes the six sites:
- three potential geological siting regions for high-level waste, with an Opalinus Clay host rock – Zurich Nordost, North of Laegern and Jura Ost – are characterized by a simple and stable underground geological situation. In order to design and construct the repository safely, the host rock requires an extent of at least six square kilometres, with a usable width of at least one and a half kilometres. Each of these three siting regions also comes into question for disposal of low- and intermediate-level waste.
- six proposed siting regions – Suedranden, Zurich Nordost, North of Laegern, Jura Ost, Jura-Suedfuss and Wellenberg – all have clay-rich sediments as a potential host rock. These include the Opalinus Clay, the Brauner Dogger, the Effingen Beds and the marl formations of the Helveticum. In order to design and construct the caverns safely, the host rock requires an extent of at least three square kilometres, with a usable width of at least one kilometre.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 39-year-old German man fell to his death in canton Bern after slipping on wet terrain while hiking. A 61-year-old Valais man was found dead Monday near Orsieres: his body was found in a river where he ended a long downhill slide after trying to walk away from a car accident.
Bern police say the German tourist was walking down with a woman from the Gantrisch, a 2,175-metre summit, at 14:00 Sunday 20 June, when he slipped on a wet path and fell 200 metres. He was critically injured in the fall and died at the scene; his death has been ruled an accident.
Police in canton Valais say they discovered the body of a man in the Dranse riverbed near Orsiere Monday at 11:00. His family had told police earlier in the morning that he was missing. He had spent Sunday evening with friends and while driving home crashed into a tree. He left his car and walked a few metres before slipping on a steep slope, ending his fall in the river. Authorities have opened an investigation to determine the exact cause of death.
Lausanne train station: more to look at, with new animated large ad screens coming Monday
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Travellers will find the relatively ads-free train stations in six main Swiss cities visually busier Monday 20 June when large-screen ad boards go up.
The 1.01 x 1.80 metre screens will show silent animated high-definition advertisements, similar to screens already operating in airports.
Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel, Lucerne and Zurich will have a total of 43 boards. The CFF says that 840,000 people pass through the six RailAway stations every day.
Ad sales will be handled by e-advertising, which belongs to SGA (APG in German), Switzerland’s largest “out of home” media advertising company.
The company has a new product that was developed with Coca-Cola and Volkswagen, an interactive billboard, on display at Zurich’s main station until the end of June: the display reacts to the movements of passersby.
Muehleberg peaceful anti-nuclear protest, ©2011 Herbi Ditl on flickr
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss parliament’s lower house Wednesday morning 8 June backed the government’s recommendation to close down the country’s nuclear energy plants, voting two to one in favour of several motions similar to the one sent to parliament by the government.
Nuclear power plants currently provide 39.3 percent of the country’s energy, hydroelectric and dams 55.8 percent (TSR has several charts on Swiss energy).
The vote sends a strong signal to the Swiss upper house, the senate, which will vote on the recommendations after the summer session, but no date has been set. It now appears likely that, in line with Wednesday’s vote, existing power plants will be shut down when their current licenses to operate come to an end, by 2034, and that no new plants will be approved.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland 6 June saw CHF1.5 million returned to it, money that had been put into an account blocked in and overseen by Germany, as the result of an agreement between the Swiss government and the Qaddafi regime in Libya. Switzerland has been holding discussions with Germany for some weeks about returning the money: Bern has spent more than CHF3 million in aid to Libyan citizens since the outbreak of the conflict in their country in February 2011, the Swiss Federal Council said Wednesday morning 8 June.
The CHF1.5m was paid by Switzerland after an investigation in Geneva into a leaked photo failed to turn up the culprit who gave the document to the Tribune de Geneve in the summer of 2008. The newspaper published the photo of Hannibal Qaddafi after he was arrested at Geneva’s five-star President Wilson hotel, for attacking one of his employees.
Libya then filed a formal complaint.
“Switzerland agreed to pay compensation to cover the cost of the proceedings and legal fees, in the event that the competent Geneva authorities were unable to find and punish the guilty party or parties,” Bern notes. “This agreement was the condition for the release in June 2010 of Swiss citizen Max Goeldi, who was being detained in Libya.”
Ayat Suliman’s brother brought an unexploded cluster munition into their house in Samarra, Iraq. The munition exploded and caused burns to form over 65% of Ayat’s body. In Iraq, the United States used at least 1,206 clusters, containing more than 200,000 submunitions; this number represents 4 percent of the total number of air-delivered weapons used by the Coalition (text, image: Magnus Fröderberg for Cluster Munitions Coalition)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss government Monday 6 June agreed, as expected, to ratify the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). It signed the treaty in Dublin in 2008, along with 106 other countries, but needed to take the convention through several stages before ratification.
A key step was the revision of Switzerland’s war material act of 1996 to add penal provisions. “This act will be complemented by a ban on cluster munitions,” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement.
“There will also be a ban on the financing of prohibited war material. Such material already includes nuclear weapons, biological and capital weapons and antipersonnel mines. Now cluster munitions will be added to the list.”
Ratification would force banks to completely dis-invest in cluster munitions companies
The move comes 10 days after a report issued by Handicap International drew attention to what it called the “Hall of Shame” of banks that invest in companies which produce cluster munitions. The two large Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, figured on the list, along with 14 other Swiss financial institutions. Both vehemently denied that they finance cluster munitions, pointing out that many of the investments listed were made before they tightened their policies in 2010 to avoid future investments in the large conglomerates which are often behind the manufacturers.
The report says, based on publicly available information, that 166 financial institutions in 15 countries have financial interests in eight companies that produce cluster munitions.
Handicap International says progress has been made in the financing area, but far more needs to be done.
Switzerland spends CHF16 billion a year on demining
BERN, SWITZERLAND – A 39-year-old police officer was killed on duty when a tenant who was being evicted shot and killed him at 08:00 Tuesday morning 24 May in Schafhausen im Emmental. Police said late Tuesday that a private letter had been sent to an employee of the bankruptcy and receivership office warning of a “possible reaction” by the gunman should he be evicted.
The 35-year-old man who was being evicted had refused to answer the police summons and two police officers then attempted to open the door, at which point the man shot both of them.
The second police officer, age 29, was shot in the arm, but managed to call for reinforcements. A nearby patrol responded immediately and caught the gunman outside his apartment building. The second officer was treated and released from hospital. The officer who died was hit by bullets in the stomach and despite emergency treatment he died at the scene of the crime.
The tenant, who was being evicted for being behind on his rent, is in custody and a homicide investigation has been opened. He is known to police for several incidents involving his refusal to listen to authorities, say Bern police, but he has not previously committed violent acts.
The police team was accompanied by an employee of the cantonal bankruptcy and receivership office.
The investigative team of 30 is checking to see who at the bankruptcy office was intended to be the recipient of the letter.
Former ICRC head Cornelio Sommaruga (1987-99) with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, guests of the Foreign Press Association in Geneva (photo: ©2011 Song Bin)
Update 24 May GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The caution that often typifies Swiss politicians’ speech disappeared for a moment Friday night when Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, asked if Switzerland would like to become a member of the European Union, said bluntly and for the first time, according to local journalists, “I have to say no; the majority is not in favour of it.”
The Swiss voted against joining the EU in 1992, but the two have grown closer in the past 20 years, mainly through a web of more than 120 bilateral agreements.
Ed.note: The Swiss “Security report 2011″ published 24 May confirms the president’s point, showing only 19 percent of Swiss backed the idea of joining the EU, in 2011.
EU, Swiss grow closer, want simpler system for agreements, but Swiss will remain outside group
She was fielding questions 20 May during the annual presidential dinner hosted in Geneva by the Foreign Press Association. She had touched on the growing ties between Switzerland and the EU when the question came up.
“Issues are dealt with through bilateral channels”, she noted, without referring directly to 2010 tensions, when EU leaders called for a review of the situation, saying the hefty number of bilateral agreements was becoming unwieldy, just as Switzerland was asking for a third round of negotiations to begin.
“Swiss laws are influenced by EU laws. And the EU says we must take into consideration future European law; we’re discussing it.” Calmy-Rey’s remark Friday night appeared to confirm comments made in February by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso after he met with her. Barroso said at the time that they agreed the system needs to be streamlined, simplified.
Swiss regulations increasingly in line with European
Swiss President Calmy-Rey with EC President José Barroso, February 2011
Switzerland is increasingly adapting regulations and laws to match European-wide ones. Bern announced Friday that importing cars from the EU is likely to become easier soon, for example, with Switzerland preparing to accept European certificates of road-worthiness. It plans to adopt EU standards for fixed child seats and dusk lights on new cars.
Sticky tax issues could have solution “soon”
Asked to elaborate on comments made Thursday in Bern about tax discussions with Britain and Germany, she said “We hope to have solutions soon.”
Calmy-Rey, who is also Switzerland’s foreign minister, met this week with Germany’s foreign minister Guido Westerwelle. Thursday, after their working meetings, she said that “with the withholding tax model, a constructive solution has been found that protects the interests of both sides” and that they hope to finalize an agreement before the summer parliamentary breaks.
Germany and other European countries, notably France and the UK, are seeking ways to collect tax from their citizens’ holdings in Switzerland.
The tax arguments also include accusations by Switzerland’s neighbours that some cantons are offering tax deals to foreigners that smack of illegal subsidies.
IMF job not likely to go to a Swiss
The president laughed at what she called the expected question when the director’s job at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) was mentioned, saying that Switzerland is “realistic enough” to know its chances of putting its candidate in the job are slim.
Calmy-Rey told the group of journalists she is not unhappy with coverage of Switzerland by foreign media, but she wishes that in addition to chocolate and cows they would write more about innovation and research in Switzerland, two areas where the country excels.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss federal Telecommunications office says it began 11 May accepting bills sent electonically by its suppliers. It is the first federal government office to do so and has put in place a central clearing system that will send the bills on to the correct department within 24 hours.
Bern says the new payment system will gradually be shared by other federal offices, with the entire federal government accepting but also creating electronic bills by the end of 2012.
Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot in St Moritz, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Gunter Sachs, who inherited German wealth, adopted celebrity friends and developed into a world-class photographer and filmmaker, has died, age 78, in Gstaad, Switzerland. He was best known for a playboy lifestyle and his three-year marriage to French film star Brigitte Bardot, from 1966-69.
He was also a wealthy philanthropist in his later years and his foundation was one of the first to confirm the news of his death, according to French daily Liberation. Some of his wealth came from his grandfather Adam Opel, founder of the automobile company of the same name.
His family released a statement Sunday, at his request, saying that he took his own life. German media report that he shot himself at his home in Gstaad, a decision he took because he was suffering from a debilitating and incurable degenerative disease, information not confirmed by the family.
