Federal popular initiative «Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)»

Federal referendum
«Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)»
General
Template no .:	594	Result:	Declined
Date:	June 14, 2015	Trigger:
result
Yes:	658,218 (28.98%)
No:	1,613,394 (71.02%)

The federal popular initiative “Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)” is a popular initiative that the Swiss electorate voted on on June 14, 2015. The initiative was rejected with 71 percent votes against.

The initiative in full

Federal popular initiative 'Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)'

I.

The federal constitution is amended as follows:

Art. 112 para. 3 let. abis (new)

• 3 The insurance is financed:

abis. from the income from inheritance and gift taxes ;

Art. 129a (new) inheritance and gift tax

• 1 The federal government levies inheritance and gift tax. The tax is assessed and collected by the cantons. Two thirds of the income goes to the compensation fund for old-age and survivors' insurance , one third remains with the cantons .

• 2 Inheritance tax is levied on the estate of natural persons who were domiciled in Switzerland at the time of death or for whom the inheritance was initiated in Switzerland. The gift tax is collected from the giver.

• 3 The tax rate is 20 percent. Not to be taxed:

a. a one-off allowance of CHF 2 million on the sum of the estate and all taxable gifts;
b. the parts of the estate and donations that are given to the spouse, the registered partner;
c. the portions of the estate and donations given to an exempt legal entity;
d. Gifts of a maximum of 20,000 francs per year and gifted person.

• 4 The Federal Council periodically adjusts the amounts in line with inflation.

• 5 If companies or farms are part of the estate or donation and are to be continued by the heirs, heirs or gift recipients for at least ten years, special tax reductions apply so that their continued existence is not endangered and jobs are maintained.

II

The transitional provisions of the Federal Constitution are changed as follows:

Art. 197 no. 9 (new)

• 9. Transitional provision to Art. 112 para. 3 let. abis and Art. 129a (inheritance and gift tax)

• 1 Articles 112 paragraph 3 letters abis and 129a enter into force on January 1 of the second year after their adoption as directly applicable law. At the same time, the cantonal decrees on inheritance and gift taxes are repealed. Donations will be added to the estate retrospectively from January 1, 2012.

• 2 The Federal Council shall issue the implementing regulations for the period until an implementation law comes into force. He observes the following requirements: a. The taxable estate consists of:

• 1. the market value of assets and liabilities at the time of death;

• 2. Taxable gifts made by the testator;

• 3. the assets that have been invested in family foundations, insurance companies and the like in order to avoid the tax.

b. The gift tax is levied as soon as the amount under Article 129a paragraph 3 letter a is exceeded. Gift taxes paid are offset against inheritance tax.
c. In the case of companies, the reduction in accordance with Article 129a paragraph 5 is carried out by granting an exemption on the total value of the company and reducing the tax rate on the taxable residual value. In addition, installment payments can be approved for a maximum of ten years.
d. In the case of agricultural holdings, the reduction is carried out in accordance with Article 129a paragraph 5 by disregarding their value if they are farmed by the heirs, heirs or gift recipients themselves in accordance with the provisions on peasant land law. If they are given up or sold before the period of ten years has expired, the tax will be charged proportionally.

Arguments

The neutrality of this article or section is disputed. A reason is given on the discussion page . You can get more information here .

According to Heiner Studer , President of the sponsoring association for inheritance tax reform, large fortunes today mostly grow on the stock exchange and these capital gains are the only country in Switzerland that is not taxed.

The winners of this policy should therefore make their contribution to the general public in the transition to the next generation, with today's inheritance tax affecting 98 percent of the Swiss.

In the future, these 98 percent, all inheritances up to two million francs, should be completely tax-free. The high tax exemption applies to each inheritance, which means that families would have been spared in the future.

Voting result

According to the Swiss Federal Chancellery, the preliminary official final results for submission no. 594 popular initiative of February 15, 2013 "Taxing inheritances of millions for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)" are as follows:

Canton	Yes votes	Yes in percent	No votes	No in percent	Turnout in percent
Aargau	43,585	25.4	128,106	74.6	41.8
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	5,002	28.2	12,755	71.8	46.5
Appenzell Innerrhoden	885	20.8	3,376	79.2	38.0
Basel-Country	23,277	29.2	56,380	70.8	43.0
Basel city	22,646	41.3	32,169	58.7	43.0
Bern	101,805	35.6	183,820	64.4	39.3
Freiburg	23,368	28.8	57,694	71.2	42.2
Geneva	30,795	28.1	78,791	71.9	45.4
Glarus	2,731	30.1	6,328	69.9	34.9
Grisons	12,976	24.0	41,146	76.0	39.8
law	6,650	33.8	13,050	66.2	38.7
Lucerne	30,862	26.9	83,965	73.1	43.1
Neuchâtel	14,386	34.0	27,926	66.0	38.6
Nidwalden	2,710	17.9	12,390	82.1	50.2
Obwalden	2,272	17.8	10,523	82.2	49.9
Schaffhausen	9,608	31.7	20,736	68.3	62.9
Schwyz	8,614	17.2	41,584	82.8	49.6
Solothurn	21,355	29.6	50,732	70.4	40.9
St. Gallen	37,502	28.0	96,462	72.0	42.3
Ticino	25,654	27.1	69,043	72.9	44.1
Thurgau	18,014	27.0	48,652	73.0	40.7
Uri	2,501	26.0	7,108	74.0	36.7
Vaud	52,698	28.3	133'256	71.7	44.4
Valais	16,940	15.7	91,284	84.3	51.0
train	8,682	19.4	36,075	80.6	60.5
Zurich	132,700	32.9	270,043	67.1	45.2
Swiss Confederation	658,218	29.0	1,613,394	71.0	43.2

Reasons for failure

The Zurich SP National Councilor Jacqueline Badran sees the reason for the clear no in the financial superiority of the opponents: “ What do you want to do against a 10 million campaign? " We had the editorial offices against us ," Badran told the SDA. She couldn't find any mistakes in her own campaign: “ We just had 100 times less budget. »

In Switzerland, experience shows that "all" federal popular initiatives that seek redistribution from top to bottom fail. This absolute predictability of the results after unequal financing and voting struggles was also discussed earlier in the federal popular initiative “Popular sovereignty instead of public authority propaganda” .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Inheritance tax crashed - "cut into your own flesh" . In: Tages-Anzeiger . June 14, 2015. Accessed June 14, 2015.
2. ↑ http://www.erbschaftssteuerreform.ch/de/?p=4319
3. ↑ Template No. 594 - Preliminary official final results. Popular initiative of February 15, 2013 «Taxing millions of inheritances for our AHV (inheritance tax reform)». Swiss Federal Chancellery BK, June 15, 2015, accessed on June 15, 2015 . 
4. ↑ http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/71-prozent-stimmten-nein-abfuhr-fuer-nationale-erbschaftssteuer-id3863579.html