13th AHV pension National Council wants to push through VAT increase
The financing of the 13th AHV pension remains controversial. The National Council is narrowly backing a temporary increase in VAT - against the wishes of the SP, the Greens and the Center Party.
03.06.2026, 09:04
03.06.2026, 09:50
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- The National Council wants to continue to finance the 13th AHV pension solely through VAT. To this end, it is to be increased by 0.5 percentage points for a limited period until the end of 2033.
- The upper chamber narrowly rejected financing via additional salary contributions, as supported by the Council of States. The decision was made by 99 votes to 97.
- The Council of States must now consider the bill again. The definitive financing of the 13th AHV pension therefore remains open.
There is still no agreement on the financing of the 13th AHV pension. The National Council is sticking to financing the pension increase solely from VAT. It wants to increase this for a limited period until 2033.
However, the decision was close with 99 votes to 97. Like the Council of States, the SP, the Center Party and the Greens had wanted to finance the "thirteenth" of the AHV with higher VAT and higher salary percentages. Now it is the Council of States' turn again.
Specifically, the National Council decided on Wednesday to increase VAT by 0.5 percentage points by 2033. It had initially decided on a temporary increase of 0.7 percentage points. However, the majority was now of the opinion that the AHV must be financially stabilized as part of the next major reform.
In order to gain sufficient time for this, the National Council extended the time limit by three years, i.e. from the original end of 2030 to the end of 2033, following the majority of the Social Security and Health Committee (SGK-N).
