Individual taxation moves closer National Council committee wants to take the middle way

The National Council committee responsible is proposing a middle course for individual taxation. The decision was extremely close.

The losses for the Confederation and cantons from the introduction of individual taxation should be lower than initially planned. The responsible National Council committee is proposing a middle course with this goal.

With a narrow majority, the National Council's Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation (WAK-N) is proposing a tax rate that would reduce the losses from individual taxation to CHF 600 million. In the Federal Council's version, this would be CHF 870 million per year, in that of the Council of States CHF 380 million.

The WAK-N approved the proposal for the new rate by 13 votes to 12, as reported by the parliamentary services on Tuesday. It also requested that the possibility of transferring child-related deductions between parents be waived. This had been decided by the Council of States in view of the very unequal incomes of couples.

The National Council committee also does not want the bill to include any procedural provisions regarding spouses' mutual rights of inspection and objection. However, there are minority motions in the committee on these three points. The National Council will discuss the bill in the special session at the beginning of May.

The law is the indirect counter-proposal to the popular initiative "For individual taxation regardless of marital status (tax justice initiative)". This was submitted by the FDP women. Individual taxation is to be introduced at federal, cantonal and municipal level in a few years' time.

The WAK-N suspended the centrist popular initiative for the abolition of the marriage penalty in federal tax for married couples. It also reached this decision by 13 votes to 12. The majority was of the opinion that the Council debates on individual taxation should be concluded first.