Rescuing the Juso initiative SP wants to place a heavier burden on the super-rich - without jeopardizing companies
The left-wing party is trying to save its inheritance tax initiative with a new concept - and is suddenly taking a pro-business stance. The super-rich should pay, but without family businesses suffering as a result.
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- With a new concept, the SP wants to show that a tax on inheritances over CHF 50 million is possible without jeopardizing family businesses.
- Rich heirs should also be able to pay their taxes with company shares or investments in climate protection projects.
- While opponents are investing millions in their "no" campaign, left-wingers criticize the fact that the federal government provides hardly any data on the actual impact of the initiative.
In the midst of the referendum campaign for the Juso inheritance tax initiative, the SP parliamentary group leaders are presenting a concept to show that a tax on large inheritances is possible: A tax on large inheritances is possible without family businesses suffering. According to theSonntagsZeitungnewspaper, the party wants to make an "entrepreneur-friendly" implementation palatable to the electorate.
The core of the paper is a flexible payment model. Anyone who inherits more than CHF 50 million should not necessarily have to pay the tax due in cash. Instead, heirs could transfer company shares, real estate or works of art to the state.
These tangible assets would flow into a fund managed by experts. Alternatively, rich heirs could pay off up to half of their tax debt by investing in climate protection projects or pay the tax in installments over 15 years.
Juso advocates "business-friendly" implementation
The left-wing party wants to achieve two goals at the same time: strengthen climate protection and refute the accusation that the initiative endangers Swiss companies. According to the SonntagsZeitung, Benoît Gaillard, the Vaud SP National Councillor who drafted the paper, sees it as a way of slowing down the increasing concentration of wealth without breaking up companies. The Juso also supports the plan. President Mirjam Hostetmann said that although the paper did not originate from the young party, they support it.
«A tax on inheritances over 50 million helps to combat the excessive concentration of wealth.»
SP National Councillor
The initiative calls for a tax of 50 percent on inheritances over CHF 50 million. The revenue should flow into climate protection. However, the starting position is difficult: in surveys conducted by Tamedia, only 31 percent of voters currently support the initiative.
Opponents invest millions in the No campaign
The opponents have many times more resources at their disposal. According to the Swiss Federal Audit Office, the No committees have budgeted CHF 3.67 million for their campaign - nine times more than the proponents, whose budget is around CHF 400,000. The business umbrella organization Economiesuisse alone is contributing CHF 1.3 million.
In terms of content, the opponents are putting forward familiar arguments: a national inheritance tax would drive out the wealthy, weaken the economy and jeopardize jobs.
Ivan Jäggi, Managing Director of the Swiss Family Business Association, criticizes the SP proposal. The state would suddenly have to manage company shares - an "enormous legislative and personnel effort", Jäggi told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
«The proposal simply shows how ill-conceived the ideas of the young socialists are.»
Swiss Family Business
"Family businesses" are groups like Ems-Chemie
According to the left-wingweekly newspaper, the often-used term "family business" does not refer to craft businesses, but to international corporations - including Ems-Chemie boss Magdalena Martullo-Blocher, who sits on the board of Swiss Family Business.
Criticism also comes from another direction: as reported by the "Wochenzeitung", the Federal Council published hardly any data in the run-up to the vote that would allow a well-founded discussion on the effects of the initiative.
The editorial team therefore obtained its own data from all 26 cantonal tax offices. The result: in Switzerland, around 2,800 people - just under half a per mille of all taxpayers - have assets of over CHF 50 million. They would be directly affected by the initiative.
