The think tank Avenir Suisse has calculated that in 2020 the Swiss federal government spent CHF 5 per person per day on the pandemic, a total of CHF 41 million a day. While an enormous sum, this compares favourably to a number of other nations. For example, the UK spent CHF 8 francs per person […]
Swiss health insurer announces plan to refund 400 million francs
The Swiss health insurer Groupe Mutuel announced that it plans to refund CHF 400 million to its policy holders, according to RTS. The company, which started returning money to its policy holders two years ago hopes to provide further premium rebates over the next three years. Last year the company returned CHF 101 million and […]
Beware of debt collection registry intermediaries, says Swiss consumer association
In Switzerland, an official document showing your debt status from the local debt collection register is required for a number of administrative tasks in Switzerland. For example, when applying for an apartment rental agreement or Swiss citizenship. Known as an extrait du registre des poursuites in French or a Betreibungsauszug in German, the document can […]
Swiss tax free shopping allowance set to be cut from 300 to 50 francs
Switzerland is expensive. The prices of certain items, such as some meats and dairy products are kept especially high by a combination of trade tariffs and import restrictions. A lack of retail competition further adds to prices generally. For some, shopping across the border is the preferred way to avoid high Swiss prices. Around CHF […]
Swiss health insurers to refund 300 million francs
Switzerland’s largest health insurers are poised to refund around CHF 300 million to policy holders, reported RTS. Switzerland’s health insurers have reserves of roughly CHF 12 billion, around 2 times the minimum reserve requirement, and have been under pressure from the government to return the money to policy holders. This week Switzerland’s parliament decided to […]
Swiss to vote on higher taxes for investors and company owners
On 26 September 2021, Swiss voters will decide whether to introduce a tax increase on money earned from company ownership and investments. The initiative named ‘Reduce tax on salaries, tax capital fairly’ aims to have income derived from investments and company ownership taxed at 150% of the rate applied to other income. The argument put […]
One more reason why Switzerland is so expensive
There are many theories on why the prices of certain goods and services are so high in Switzerland. A well-known economic phenomenon can be added to them. Theories that help to explain Switzerland’s high prices include, import restrictions and tariffs on products in protected industries like agriculture, high Swiss operating costs, anticompetitive deals struck by […]
Risk of parts of Swiss real estate market overheating, says UBS
The latest UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index published this week shows several regions at risk of overheating property prices. The regions highlighted as exposed include Basel, Lausanne, Vevey, parts of the Vaud Alps, Lugano, Nidwalden, Luzern, Zug and the Zurich region, all parts of Switzerland where there is plenty of high paid work. Lausanne, […]
Swiss heirs must repay 15 years of any illegally claimed welfare
In 2016, the social security office in Zurich discovered a concealed bank account containing CHF 1 million belonging to a deceased man who had received welfare payments for 13 years, reported RTS. Over the 13 years, the man had received financial hardship payments, known as supplemental benefits, and health insurance subsidies amounting to CHF 140,000. […]
Immigrants pay higher rent than native Swiss
Those with a migration background in Switzerland are on average financially worse off than those without, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). And those with a migration background pay on average 10% more per square metre of living space than the rest of the population. In Switzerland, around 20% of those with […]
