Switzerland: Proposal to eliminate municipal business tax, increase cantonal income tax rate (Geneva)
The Geneva cantonal Parliament voted to adopt a proposal to eliminate municipal business tax and increase cantonal income tax rate
Proposal to eliminate municipal business tax, increase cantonal income tax rate
The Geneva cantonal parliament on 11 May 2023 voted (94 votes in favor, 0 against, and 1 withheld) to adopt a proposal to eliminate the municipal business tax and increase the cantonal income tax rate from 14% to 14.7% (combined cantonal/municipal and federal rate).
The municipal business tax has been levied exclusively in the Canton of Geneva for more than two centuries and applies to business activities carried out by self-employed individuals and legal entities within the canton. It is calculated mainly based on gross revenues, as well as on office rental costs, and the number of full-time employees. The tax rate varies depending on the type of business activities carried out in the canton.
A cantonal referendum may be held if 500 signatures of Geneva citizens are collected within 40 days of the parliament’s adoption of the proposal. However, a referendum seems unlikely as the proposal is the result of a broadly based political consensus.
The effective date of the proposal is yet to be determined, but it is expected to be 1 January 2024.
Read a May 2023 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Switzerland
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