[Super Rich] "The Wealthy Are All Leaving"... Swiss Citizens Oppose 'Wealth Tax Increase'

Political Circle Pushes Wealth Tax Increase from 1% to 1.5%
Wealth Tax Increase Proposal Rejected in Geneva Referendum

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Citizens of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, exercised their veto power against a wealth tax increase proposal spearheaded by the political establishment. As concerns grew that millionaires might leave their home country and migrate overseas to countries with lower tax rates?a phenomenon dubbed the 'Geneva Exodus'?the citizens voted against the 'rich tax' in a referendum.

According to Bloomberg News on the 18th (local time), the referendum on raising the wealth tax in the Canton of Geneva from the previous 1% to 1.5% resulted in 44.9% in favor and 55.1% opposed, leading to the rejection of the wealth tax increase proposal.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the wealth gap widened and fiscal deficits emerged, prompting Swiss left-wing parties to push for a wealth tax increase under the name of a 'solidarity tax.' The proposal aimed to raise the wealth tax rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.5% for individuals with net assets exceeding 3 million Swiss francs (approximately 4.3 billion KRW). The party estimated that the wealth tax increase could generate an additional 430 million Swiss francs (approximately 61 billion KRW) in tax revenue for the Geneva government over the next decade.

However, the newly elected Geneva government recently opposed the wealth tax increase, stating that increased tax revenues are sufficient to cover welfare expenditures. The wealthy also resisted the tax hike, arguing that they already pay substantial taxes. According to the Swiss government, the top 1.4% bear 69.8% of the wealth tax burden. There were also concerns that increasing taxes on the wealthy would accelerate 'de-Switzerland,' where wealthy individuals leave the country for lower-tax jurisdictions. In fact, when the Norwegian government raised the top wealth tax rate from 1.0% to 1.1% last year, many wealthy individuals moved abroad, including to Switzerland.

Bloomberg reported, "There were warnings that the city's wealthiest residents might move to neighboring countries with lower tax rates," and "Geneva residents rejected the tax increase on the wealthiest 1%."

Meanwhile, separate from the Geneva wealth tax referendum, Switzerland held a national referendum on a bill to raise the corporate tax rate from the current 11% to 15%, which was approved. This is a follow-up measure to the OECD's 2021 agreement to set a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%. With this vote, Switzerland is expected to generate an additional $2.8 billion (approximately 3.6 trillion KRW) in tax revenue annually. However, even with the corporate tax rate raised to 15%, Switzerland's corporate tax rate remains among the lowest in the world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.