What was on the agenda for voters on June 18, 2023

Tax rules for multinationals, carbon neutrality, Covid prevention measures: it was a clear “yes” to all three issues on the ballot on June 18.

The most resounding result was for the introduction of a new tax on the profits of large multinational corporations. Almost 80% of voters accepted the government’s proposal to introduce a global reform, set in motion in 2021 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

As a result, Swiss authorities will impose a “top-up tax” on all firms with revenues over €750 million (CHF732 million) per year, to make sure a new global minimum rate of 15% rate is reached. Currently the country’s 26 cantons all apply individual rates, the majority of them under 15%. The reform will come into force on January 1, 2024.

Left-wing groups opposed the deal, arguing that it favoured rich cantons rather than the population. But they had no chance convincing voters, who were swayed by the government’s warning that tax receipts not collected in Switzerland would be hoovered up abroad instead.

Efforts to reform the global taxation system are however not yet finished: Pascal Saint-Amans, the main negotiator behind the OECD agreement, which has been signed by 140 countries to date, explain what its implementation now means, and how the Swiss authorities were not always so cooperative during the talks.

The government’s new climate plans were a bit more divisive. Nevertheless, 59.1% of voters backed the new climate law, which was adopted by parliament last autumn as a counter-proposal to the so-called Glacier Initiative. It aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

To do this, the law plans some CHF2 billion ($2.25 billion) in financial support over ten years for households to replace gas and oil heating systems with more climate-friendly systems. However, it drops the proposed taxes that prompted voters to reject a previous CO2 law in June 2021. 

All the country’s major parties, except the right-wing People’s Party, were in favour of the new law, saying it would effectively protect the climate, while enabling Switzerland to free itself from fossil fuels and become more energy independent. Green investments would also boost the economy, they said.

Opponents called the new law an “electricity guzzler”. Climate neutrality by 2050, they said, would effectively mean banning petrol, diesel, heating oil and gas. But other studies have shown that Switzerland without these fossil fuels is indeed possible – albeit if citizens and authorities make certain changes.

Lastly, the Covid-19 law was accepted for the third time in three years. In the end, 62% approved an extension of the country’s pandemic legislation until June 2024. A December amendment of the law had been challenged by opponents, who were particularly irked about legal provisions governing the issuing of Covid certificates and the SwissCovid contract-tracing application.