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Swiss Voters Overwhelmingly Reject 50% Inheritance Tax

A climate tax targeting billionaires crashed hard at the Swiss ballot, upholding a national trend of rejecting proposals that threaten Switzerland's wealth haven status.
Moustafa Daly IMI

Moustafa Daly

IMI
• Cairo

Swiss voters decisively rejected a proposal to levy a 50% tax on inheritances and gifts above CHF 50 million (€5.5 million), with 78% voting against it. Official results showed the initiative failed to win a majority in any canton on a turnout of about 43%.

The Social Democratic Party’s youth wing launched the plan to channel revenue into climate policies while addressing wealth concentration, arguing the levy would have targeted only the top 0.03%, roughly 2,000 to 2,500 people, without affecting ordinary estates.

The federal government and most parties opposed the initiative, warning it could trigger capital flight and undermine tax receipts.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said voters “clearly rejected a risky fiscal policy experiment,” adding that such a levy “would have thrown our tax system out of balance and would have damaged Switzerland’s attractiveness.”

Economiesuisse, the official umbrella organization for the Swiss business sector, called the vote “superfluous and damaging,” arguing that fears of “forced company sales,” meaning heirs having to sell part or all of a family business to raise cash for a large tax bill, resonated across party lines.

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After officials announced the vote in April 2025, Zurich-based Yamin Fouzi, Senior Investment Migration Advisor at Fouzi Consulting, told IMI Daily that several prominent businessmen, including Swiss billionaire Peter Spuhler, said they would consider leaving the country if the measure passed.

Swiss Ballot History Points to Preference for Investor-Friendly Policies

Switzerland has long hosted a large share of global wealth, featuring cantonal wealth taxes and special provisions for certain foreign residents.

Supporters of the status quo argued a steep national inheritance levy risked eroding the country’s appeal and could ultimately reduce tax revenue.

Swiss voting patterns help explain Sunday’s result. Philippe A. May recently argued that proposals to sharply raise taxes on high earners often have “zero chance” of passing in Switzerland, and historical ballots seem to support that assessment.

Swiss voters rejected the 2013 “1:12” pay-cap proposal, which would have limited a firm’s highest salary to 12 times its lowest, alongside longer mandatory vacations, a national minimum wage, and broad curbs on preferential tax regimes beyond a few cantons.

They also turned down attempts to abolish the lump-sum forfait fiscal tax regime; only Zurich voters approved the measure in 2009, while it failed in all other cantons where it was put to a vote.

Thus, the rejection of the inheritance tax seems to echo past Swiss ballots, which have often leaned toward maintaining a competitive, investor‑friendly tax climate.

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