Swiss voters to decide on inheritance tax rise for ultra wealthy
Number of billionaires: 57 Total wealth: 125 billion dollars Switzerland, known as the playground of the rich and famous, ranks 8th in the global billionaire sweepstakes and ranks 7th as the home of those with a fortune of 30 million dollars or more or the ultra-rich. Switzerland’s billionaires represent the top one percent of its 5,597 ultra-rich population and control more than 19 percent of this group’s total wealth. On average, the wealth of each of these billionaires is $2.2 billion. Although there is a decline across Europe
Photo: Ingolf Pompe | LOOK-photo
Switzerland has long been a haven for the ultra-rich. According to business magazine Bilanz, the combined wealth of the 300 richest residents is 850 billion Swiss francs, or just over $1 trillion. But on Sunday voters will go to the polls to vote on the inheritance tax that angers them.
The proposal to tax all inheritances and donations exceeding CHF 50 million at 50% will most likely be rejected. A recent poll found support at just 30%.
But close followers of the debate told CNBC that the initiative has rattled wealthy individuals and family businesses since it was proposed in 2024. Swiss billionaire Peter Spuhler, founder and owner of Stadler Rail, threatened to leave the country if the tax became law. He told the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger that his family would have difficulty paying such a tax because their wealth was tied to companies.
St. in Switzerland “Many people who will be affected have spoken to their advisors and tax lawyers and have done the paperwork at this time of year, a week before the final vote, to make sure they are ready to move if necessary,” Stefan Legge of the University of St. Gallen told CNBC on Friday.
‘The ultra-rich are like queens on the chessboard’
Legge, who has researched the potential impact of the tax, said: “If you target the super-rich, they’re like queens on the chessboard.”
“They’re very mobile. They have tons of options to optimize their taxes,” he added.
Kurt Moosmann, president of the Swiss Single Family Office Association, told CNBC that the proposal “creates a certain uncertainty among family offices and keeps foreign capital holders away from Switzerland.”
Legge said a 50 percent tax would likely lead to lower tax revenues. He said about 2,000 people, or 0.3% of the Swiss population, would be affected and that these people currently pay between 5 and 6 billion Swiss francs a year.
Powerful Swiss business lobby Economiesuisse called talk of inheritance tax an “unnecessary and counterproductive debate”
“We depend on good taxpayers to fund our government,” he warned.
Legge said Switzerland faced competition from centers of wealth in other countries in the Middle East and Europe, but added that Switzerland was “still very strong” in “finding the right balance between taxes and the right public services”.
Asked if wealthy clients are scared, Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of Swiss private bank EFG International, told CNBC on Tuesday: “If you look at the overall competitive landscape, Switzerland remains the No. 1 destination for international private banking and wealth management. We have a super healthy and strong ecosystem.”
The proposal came from the youth wing of the left-wing Social Democrats in the country. If successful, money raised from the tax would fund policies to combat climate change.
