Ailing Disability Insurance Hopes For Tax Boost

The campaign over a proposed tax increase to prop up the state-run disability insurance scheme is slowly gathering pace ahead of a nationwide vote.
Most political parties, the government as well as various organisations and pressure groups have come out in favour of a 0.4 per cent hike in value added tax (VAT). The rightwing Swiss People's Party is up against an overwhelming alliance on September 27.

Over the past two weeks several small political parties, the farmers' association and organisations for the disabled all issued statements recommending voters approve the proposal.

On Friday a group of mainly retired politicians of the People's Party became the latest committee to outline its reasons against the increase.

In line with their party they slammed the planned temporary fiscal charge as a "false and dangerous compromise" which jeopardised the financial future of the state old age pension scheme – another tenet of the Swiss social security system.

The reason being that the proposal includes an injection worth several billion francs from the pension scheme into the disability insurance.

The rightwing party earlier warned that raising taxes would slow private consumption and put a financial strain on families.

"An increase is poison for the purchasing power of consumers," parliamentarian and businessmen Peter Spuhler argued at a news conference in June when his People's Party launched its campaign.

VAT is currently 7.6 per cent, with reduced rates for the hotel industry and for essential consumer goods.

Opponents also claim money could be saved by cracking down on fraudsters, notably beneficiaries of Turkish and East European origin, who allegedly cheat the Swiss authorities by faking mental illness.

« We are no longer able to help those in need if the disability insurance is in trouble. » Christophe Darbellay, Christian Democratic Party


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