Erbsteuer referendum Spooks Swiss Super-Rich

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Lawyers and bankers in Switzerland warn of an exodus in the British style of a referendum about an inheritance tax of 50 percent for the super rich.

In November, the Alpine Nation will receive a referendum on the introduction of a federal tax for inheritance and gifts worth more than $ 50 million (USD 61 million). In contrast to existing cantonal duties that would still apply, the proposal does not contain any liberation for spouses or direct descendants.

The impending vote takes place after Great Britain has triggered a rush for the exit among wealthy foreigners by having committed the global assets of non-domed residents for inheritance tax-a step that is now being considered reversal. In the meantime, jurks such as Dubai and Italy have increased the efforts to attract the rich.

“In terms of the chance of attracting people who leave people who leave the UK, the damage was done. The timing was terrible,” said Georgia Fotiou, a lawyer who advised private customers at Staiger Law. “Not all of them stopped to come, but more Italy, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere selected more.”

The new tax was proposed by the left young socialist party in 2022 to collect money to combat the climate crisis. According to Swiss law, such proposals go public if they are supported by 100,000 signatures.

“The whole country has to be right about the proposal when a mere consequence of the proposal that creates unnecessary uncertainties,” said Frédéric Rochat, managing partner of Lombard Odier in Geneva. “The simple fact that it exists is not helpful.”

Peter Spuhler, owner of Rolling Stock Giant Stadler Rail and one of the richest people in Switzerland, made the proposal publicly as “disaster for Switzerland” and said his heirs could hand over to SFR2BN.

The prospect of the new tax risks that Switzerland calls for stability, which have scored several goals in recent years Regulations.

“Switzerland was always the country with an excellent environment when it comes to gift and inheritance tax. We have some larger family businesses that we consult and they have a big problem,” said Stefan Piller, head of the tax and legal for BDO in Zurich.

Switzerland would put the new tax on other jurisdiction such as Italy, in which inheritance taxes are between 4 and 8 percent or Dubai and Hong Kong and have no inheritance or gift tax.

The Business Lobby Group Economiesuisse said this week that the initiative “Switzerland’s position as a reliable and stable business location International”.

When the vote approaches, some people are already going, while others decide to move to the country.

Rochat said that Lombard Odier had seen “Swiss families who have decided not to take any risk and to move before the vote before the vote”, while the customers had decided in overseas not to move into the country because the “extremely harmful” proposal had caused uncertainty before the vote.

Another private banker based in Zurich said that a top customer had moved to Liechtenstein before the vote, because the proposal, even if the proposal is not adopted, “the uncertainty about whether there will be another in a few years will be made to move”.

However, other banks said that many wealthy people still moved money to Switzerland for a long time in uncertain periods.

“At the moment we see quite large tributaries from everywhere in the face of global volatility,” said a third manager at a private bank and added American In particular, the efforts to prescribe money to the country under the Trump government had shifted.

Christian Kälin, chairman of Henley & Partners, a advice based in London who specialized in citizenship and residence through investments, said that he did not shared the view that this had damaged the appeal of Switzerland.

“We saw some people who are waiting to see the possible introduction, yes,” he said. “But to be honest, the people we deal with are intelligent and do not understand Switzerland easily.”

The Federal Council, the state’s executive department, rejected the initiative, as well as the upper and lower houses of Parliament, and experts in the referendum on November 30 gave the tax opportunities for the historical aversion of Swiss citizens against wealth taxes. In order to be adopted, majorities require both the majority of the population and the majority of the 26 cantons of the country.

However, Rochat said that the problem will probably be visited again in a few years if the proposal was won with a small lead or lost, which would impair Switzerland’s predictability. “It must be coordinated with such an overwhelming majority (that this possibility can be brought to bed for 20 years.”