Marriage penalty

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In Switzerland , the political catchphrase “marriage penalty” is used to criticize the fact that married couples are in a worse tax position than unmarried couples under certain circumstances. The Federal Court ruled {BGE 110 Ia 7 4476} as early as 1984 that the cantonal tax legislation in relation to married couples cohabiting couples are not allowed to charge more. It made no specific comment on federal taxes. A specification in 1994 showed that discrimination can only be assumed from a difference of 10 percent . Since then, many cantons have adapted their tax laws accordingly, while the discrimination against married couples continues at the federal level. A first series of urgent measures became effective for the first time with the 2009 tax return. This removes the marriage penalty for 160,000 of the 240,000 married couples affected, but leaves it for the others. The maximum degree of discrimination is 84 percent, which affects marriages in which each spouse has an annual income of 75,000 to 125,000 francs . This means that the discrimination for these married couples is still well above the 10 percent specified by the Federal Supreme Court.

With old-age and survivors ' insurance, the mandatory pension insurance in Switzerland, a married pensioner couple receives a maximum of 150 percent of the maximum pension, while an unmarried pensioner couple receives both pensions in full. In return, a widow's or widower's pension is paid out to married people.

Other states

In Germany , spouses can be assessed by means of spouse splitting , which leads to a better position for spouses with significantly different individual tax rates. From a more general point of view, married people are not placed in a worse position than unmarried people on the basis of Article 6 of the Basic Law ( protection of marriage and family ).

Individual taxation is applied in Sweden , so marriage does not affect the level of income tax. In Austria , spouses are assessed separately (individually); this does not give spouses a better position. A single earner tax credit for spouses or registered partners reduces the tax burden minimally.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NZZ of January 30, 2006: Tax discount instead of “marriage penalty” ( Memento of February 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Federal Department of Finance: Mitigation of the tax marriage penalty: Measures will come into force at the beginning of 2008
  3. ↑ Federal Department of Finance: Message on the immediate measures in the area of ​​taxation for married couples (PDF; 482 kB)
  4. ↑ Tagesanzeiger: CVP attracts married couples with higher pensions