20 Minutes. Various Swiss unions along with the socialist and green parties have launched an initiative to increase pensions. Their plan, which demands a 10% increase in pension payments, will be put before Swiss voters in a referendum on 25 September 2016. The cost of the plan could be as high as CHF 4.1 billion. […]
Swiss tax redistribution in 2017 – winners and losers
Swiss cantons have very different tax bases, tax rates and costs. To even things up, and temper tax rate competition between cantons that jockey to attract the wealthiest residents with the lowest tax rates, Switzerland has a system known as la péréquation financière nationale in French, or Finanzausgleich in German, which requires “rich” cantons to give money […]
Tax breaks for Swiss home owners should be reduced, say experts
20 Minutes. A recently released report, put together by a group of experts, proposes measures to dissuade people in Switzerland maintaining high levels of debt, in particular home mortgages. The report says the current system encourages individuals to maintain unhealthy levels of debt. The level of home mortgage debt in Switzerland is very high by international standards and has […]
The 1,000 franc note not about to disappear
Le Matin. Earlier this month, the European Central Bank announced that it will stop issuing 500 euro notes. Known colloquially as the ‘Bin Laden’, because it helps criminals move large sums without detection, the 500 euro will not be produced from 2018 when the new Europa series of notes are launched to replace current euro […]
Grim numbers show dramatic changes required to Swiss pension system
The Swiss statistics office has just published some striking numbers. The number of retirees as a percentage of those of working age is expected to rise by 66% over the next 30 years across all of Switzerland. Known as the dependency ratio(1), this percentage will more than double in three Swiss cantons: Uri, Schwytz and Obwalden. In […]
Swiss buy more and more meat across the border
Swiss are buying increasing amounts of meat in neighbouring countries according to Switzerland’s professional meat union (UPSV). Over the border After three years of rising, Switzerland’s appetite for meat appears to have declined by around 1% in 2015, or 2% on a per capita basis, to an annual average of 51.4 kg per person. These numbers […]
Handsome reward paid to man who found wallet full of cash
Last Thursday in Lucerne, Switzerland, a man lost a wallet with 7,070 francs in it according to 20 Minuten. Fortunately, it was handed in and the owner was tracked down by the lost and found team at Lucerne’s police station, who returned the wallet containing a number of cards and the large sum of cash. The 20 year […]
How buying a house has become beyond the reach of most Swiss
20 Minutes. A couple with an annual income of CHF 100,000 won’t find anything in 65% of Swiss communes according to the newspaper. After looking at 800,000 property advertisements on the website Homegate, 20 Minuten calculated an average home price increase of 36% between 2002 and 2015, far more than the 15% rise in salaries between 2002 […]
Bank errors made one man a millionaire and others penniless
Odd things have been happening to people’s bank balances in Switzerland recently. In early April a customer of Bank Coop in Basel discovered he was a millionaire. Last week, many BCV (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise) customers found themselves penniless. According to 20 Minuten, a customer of Bank Coop found over 20 million francs in his account. […]
Are you ready for Switzerland’s new money?
Next Tuesday a new Swiss note will go into circulation. Fortunately, the new 50 franc note will be the same colour as the current one to avoid confusion at the check-out. Measuring 70 x 137 mm, the new bill is smaller in size than the current 50 franc note of 73 x 149 mm. According […]
