20 Minutes. A recent article in the newspaper 20 Minutes highlights the nasty surprise some young people experience when their parents fail to pay their health insurance premiums. Turning 18 is one of life’s key milestones. It corresponds with the end of school and entry into a new world. In Switzerland it is also a […]
Some Swiss cantons overwhelmed with confessions of tax evasion
Ahead of the automatic exchange of bank account information, which comes into effect at the beginning of next year, Swiss residents with undeclared foreign bank accounts are rushing to come clean to the tax authorities, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. According to RTS, 380 have come forward in Fribourg, 173 in Valais, 254 in Jura, around […]
Get ready for heavy traffic
Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) issued a traffic warning today ahead of the long weekends in May and June. The public holiday this Thursday (Ascension) means many will take a day of leave on Friday to make a four-day weekend. Monday 5 June is also a public holiday (Pentecost) creating a three-day weekend. Later in […]
How Switzerland is turning tunnels into huge batteries
The problem with wind and solar power production is that the wind sometimes blows and the sun sometimes shines when the energy isn’t needed. Batteries are needed to store excesses until they are needed. One form of storage, which has earned Switzerland the nickname of the battery of Europe, is hydro. Excess power is used […]
Voters in Zurich reject plan to axe French at primary school
On Sunday, 60.8% of voters in the canton of Zurich rejected a plan to reduce the number of languages taught in primary schools to one. Part of a long running saga starting in 2004, the vote put forward by some teachers in Zurich, is based on the concern that primary school children and their teachers […]
Vaud cabinet remains left-leaning and majority female after Sunday’s vote
Le Matin. Voters in the canton of Vaud put two more politicians from the left into the canton’s diving seat on Sunday. The first round of voting left two of seven cabinet (Conseil d’Etat) positions open. Sunday’s winners, the two with the most votes, were existing councillor Béatrice Métraux (49.96%), from the Green party, and the socialist Cesla Amarelle […]
France continues hunt for residents pretending to live in Switzerland
Tribune de Genève. The neighbouring French commune of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois has expanded its hunt for those who live in France but pretend to live in Switzerland. Some of those living in France and working in Switzerland, declare their French home as a secondary residence and claim to reside primarily in Switzerland. This makes them Swiss taxpayers, depriving the […]
Result of Swiss vote on energy on 21 May 2017
Today, Swiss voted on whether to support the federal government’s plan to overhaul Switzerland’s energy system. The plan was accepted by 58.2% of voters. The results were in line with most poll predictions leading up to the vote. Support for the plan was widespread. Majorities of voters supported the plan in 22 of Switzerland’s 26 […]
Swiss still show strong preference for car over train
Despite one of the world’s most efficient train networks, Swiss residents still overwhelmingly prefer hopping in their cars than getting on trains or other forms of transport. Of the 90 minutes an average Swiss resident spends moving every day they spend the vast majority of it in a car. In 2015, two thirds of trips were made […]
Poor not being pushed out of Swiss cities
It is widely believed that as the price of real estate climbs those on low incomes are forced out of city centres. A study by the University of Geneva, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office focused on the period between 2010 and 2014, shows this is not true in Switzerland. Rich leaving the centres […]
