Switzerland’s government recently voted for a ceiling on the salaries of those managing public companies such as Swisscom, Swiss Post, Skyguide and Swiss Rail. In response, the board of Swiss Rail wrote to the Federal Council requesting it to soften its position. From 2020, the company wants to pay its nine senior managers CHF 5.89 […]
Swiss Rail shares bumper profits with passengers
In 2018, Swiss Rail made a profit of CHF 568 million, 42.5% more than in 2017. Part of the rise was due to higher than average spending on maintenance in 2017. It is worth noting that Swiss Rail receives a large sum from taxpayers every year. In 2018, the company received CHF 3.5 billion of […]
Facebook rejects most information requests from Swiss authorities
Over the first three months of 2018 Swiss authorities made 80 requests for Facebook user data, however two thirds of them were ignored, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick as reported in 20 Minutes. When the requests were urgent the response rate rose to two thirds of requests. Reto Nause, who is responsible for security in […]
Swiss chocolate consumption slides
In 2018, Switzerland’s population consumed around 87,000 tonnes of chocolate. However, average chocolate consumption dropped from 10.5 kg per person in 2017 to 10.3 kg in 2018, a decline of roughly 2%. This decline reflects last year’s longer hotter summer, according to the industry association Chocosuisse. The fall in consumption of Swiss chocolate in Switzerland […]
Swiss parliamentarians paid to lobby. But who is paying who?
A recently published study by the organisation Transparency International Switzerland shows the scale of lobbying in Swiss politics. Based on existing records, there are 2,000 relevant links between parliamentarians and outside interests with close to 1,700 organisations represented in parliament. An average member of Switzerland’s parliament has between seven and nine outside mandates. While the […]
Swiss clocks move forward one hour this Sunday
Early on Sunday 31 March 2019 – at 2am to be precise – Swiss clocks will move forward one hour. This means you will miss one hour of sleep and it will be darker when you get up. On the plus side, it will be lighter for longer in the evenings. Daylight savings likely to […]
Swiss parliament calls for more online purchases to be taxed
Since 1 January 2019, companies abroad making more than CHF 100,000 in revenue must charge Swiss VAT on sales made to anyone in Switzerland. Now the Swiss government has decided to take aim at online platforms such as Aliexpress and Wish, according to the broadcaster RTS. Rather than chasing foreign companies selling products in Switzerland, […]
Terrorists to be deported from Switzerland even if lives at risk
The Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, voted 22 to 18 in favour of a parliamentary motion to deport terrorists even if their lives are at risk in their country of origin, according to RTS. Many on the left who were against the decision argued such a plan was against Switzerland’s constitution, the european convention […]
Switzerland’s parliament votes in favour of 1.3 billion franc payment to EU
Despite strong opposition from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) on several points, a majority of Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of a CHF 1.3 billion payment to the EU. The “solidarity payment”, destined to reduce european social and economic disparities and help cover some of the costs associated with migration, was accepted by a majority […]
Swiss government agrees on bigger tax deductions for childcare
Switzerland’s parliament recently decided to increase the amount of childcare costs that can be deducted from taxable income. Parliament voted 131 to 48, with 14 abstentions, to increase the maximum annual childcare deduction from CHF 10,100 per child to CHF 25,000 when calculating federal taxes, according to RTS. Childcare in Switzerland is expensive. According to […]
