The referendum in Switzerland on 12 February, the majority of voters voted against the abolition of tax incentives in the country for holdings who receive income mainly abroad, according to “Deutsche Welle”.
In particular, 59% of Swiss citizens did not support the initiative of the government, voted 41%,
Director of tax policy, Organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) Pascal San-Aman before the referendum said that if tax benefits are not canceled, and that Switzerland can impose international sanctions.
The rejection of the reform may be “poison for Switzerland as an economic centre,” said the representative of the auditing company KPMG Peter Uebelhart.
The existing tax benefits for holding companies in Switzerland relate to about 24 thousand companies and 150 thousand employees. The Swiss government is afraid of the outflow of business to countries such as the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Singapore, Netherlands and others. Therefore, the Swiss government has sought to keep international business other privileges such as exemption from tax on income from patents.
The opponents of the reform argued that the difference in revenues in the budget will have to cover the taxpayers.
In turn, in another referendum, which was held in Switzerland on February 12, voters in the Canton of graubünden rejected the government’s initiative to apply for the winter Olympics 2026. Against the motion voted 60% of voters. In 2013, the voters of graubünden voted against applying for the winter Olympics in 2022.
Despite that,Switzerland may still apply to host the Olympic games in 2026. Several cantons support the idea of nominating a candidate for Zion city. In April, the Swiss Olympic Committee will take a decision on filing a formal proposal to the International Olympic Committee.
