Inheritance tax According to SRG projection, 79 percent say no to the Juso initiative
There is no inheritance tax in Switzerland to benefit the climate. According to the first projection by gfs.bern on behalf of SRG, the Juso initiative "For a future" was rejected with 79% of votes against. Polls had led us to expect this.
30.11.2025, 12:31
30.11.2025, 12:44
SDA
Political scientist Lukas Golder spoke of a "deep red No" and a "very low Yes percentage" on Swiss television SRF at midday. The early announcement by business leaders that they would move out of Switzerland if they voted yes to the initiative had caused many people to have doubts.
"Right from the start, the issue was not a big hit", said political scientist Urs Bieri on Swiss radio SRF. It was not possible to demonstrate the advantages of the initiative. "The climate issue was only discussed in passing, the focus was on the tax." The same observation also applies to 2015, the last time a national inheritance tax was rejected at the ballot box.
In the SRG trend survey, 68% of voters were against the referendum. In the "20 Minuten"/Tamedia survey, as many as 75 percent of respondents rejected the inheritance tax initiative. Compared to the first polls, the "no" votes had increased.
Fear of emigration dominant
The popular initiative of the Young Socialists with the veiled title "For a social climate policy - fairly financed through taxation (Initiative for a future)" called for a national tax of fifty percent on estates and gifts from individuals of more than fifty million francs. The federal government and cantons should have invested the revenue in climate protection.
The Juso demanded that the richest should be held financially responsible for the climate damage they cause. Opponents warned that companies would be put at risk. Because of the tax owed, companies could have to be sold instead of being passed on to successors.
Opponents also pointed out that the very wealthy would avoid Switzerland and therefore no longer pay tax on their assets if the new inheritance tax were introduced. If these heavy taxpayers were absent, taxes would have to be increased for everyone.
Opponents were mobilized early on
The fact that the tax would have been due immediately after a yes vote triggered lively discussions about early departures in the summer of 2024. The Federal Council called the demanded retroactive taxation of estates and gifts "highly problematic in terms of state policy".
The early and expensive "no" campaign caught on with voters. As ten years ago, when an initiative by the SP, Greens, EVP and the Federation of Trade Unions for a national inheritance tax in favor of the AHV was up for debate, the idea again failed to find a majority among the population. The "no" vote is now likely to be around ten percentage points higher than then.
However, inheritance taxes are still possible in the cantons. Today, almost all of them make use of this option. However, widows, widowers and descendants are often not taxed on inheritances. In recent years, inheritance and gift taxes have brought in around CHF 1.4 billion a year for the cantons and municipalities.
