Most cantonal governments oppose Switzerland’s proposed shift to individual taxation, warning that it would be costly, administratively burdensome and unnecessarily centralising, reports SRF. Their resistance is strong enough that the Conference of Cantonal Governments has issued a rare joint statement urging voters to reject the reform in a referendum scheduled for March 8th.
The change is too fundamental, said Markus Dieth, president of the conference and a member of Aargau’s cantonal government. Cantons accept that the so-called marriage penalty in the direct federal tax should be corrected. But they argue that replacing joint taxation with a fully individualised system goes far beyond what is required, while creating uncertainty over costs for cantons, municipalities and taxpayers alike.
Unlike the federal government, most cantons have already mitigated the marriage penalty using targeted measures such as income splitting, adapted rates or deductions. These solutions, they argue, are pragmatic, broadly accepted and effective. In their view, the problem lies not with joint taxation itself but with its design. A popular initiative backed by The Centre Party, which would retain joint taxation while removing discrimination against unmarried couples, is closer to the cantons’ preferred approach.
Administrative concerns loom large. Individual taxation would create roughly 1.7m additional tax files, according to cantonal finance ministers. Married couples would have to complete two tax returns instead of one, doubling paperwork and follow-up procedures. Cantons would need to overhaul their tax systems, affecting not only assessments but also rates, social-security contributions and eligibility for benefits such as health-insurance subsidies and scholarships.
Critics also warn of new inequities. While individual taxation removes unequal treatment between married and unmarried couples, it would penalise households with a single income or a low second income compared with couples earning similar amounts. Franziska Biner, Valais’s finance director, questioned whether such households should simply be told that they had chosen the wrong family model. Proponents counter that these couples currently benefit from a marriage bonus—but opponents see that as a political judgement.
In short, the cantons argue that reform is needed—but not a wholesale rewrite imposed from Bern.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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