Federal Council comments on various motions, postulates and interpellations

Peter von Burg

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In the course of August 2020, the Federal Council commented on various motions, postulates and interpellations (tax amnesty, micro-tax, VAT, etc.).

Motion "Immediate introduction of a general tax amnesty": The Federal Council still sees no need for action in this area. The regulation on voluntary disclosure without penalty and on facilitated subsequent taxation in inheritance cases is sufficient and is also being actively used. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Postulate "micro-tax analysis": At this stage, the added value of the requested report is not evident. The Federal Council proposes that the postulate be rejected.
Motion "Remission or reduction of value-added tax for businesses closed down by the Federal Council": The Federal Council criticises the fact that only some companies would benefit, while other companies also affected by the COVID 19 measures would not, and that the financial loss of revenue for the Confederation must be estimated at several billion francs. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Motion "Passenger car. Set import tax proportional to vehicle weight": The FDF has been commissioned to develop a concept to secure long-term revenue for the financing of transport infrastructure by the end of 2021. In addition, a similar professional initiative of the Canton of Berne was written off. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Motion: "A temporary federal solidarity tax on assets, to partially finance the measures to combat Covid-19 and the economic and social crisis that caused the disease. "The announcement or introduction of an additional tax in the wake of the Corona-related economic slump is likely to exacerbate the recession and delay economic recovery. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Motion "Equal tax treatment of teleworking": The introduction of a home-office related workroom deduction, as demanded by the petitioner, does not go far enough and would further complicate the legal system. Rather, the Federal Council is of the opinion that the current law on professional expenses should be reviewed in general. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Motion "Monitoring the implementation of the Federal Law on Tax Reform and OASI Financing (Staf)": A review of the impact of the STAF can provide valuable information on the extent to which the reform goals have been achieved. In particular, a one-off evaluation should suffice, as the monitoring process, which is to be repeated annually as called for in the motion, is unlikely to provide any additional insights. The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
Interpellations "Harmonised collection of cantonal tax data for comprehensive evaluations of federal tax policy, in particular with regard to amnesty": On 27 September 2019, the Federal Council launched a pilot project to improve the data situation at federal level in the area of taxation. Adapting the cantonal assessment systems would require a great deal of human, time and financial resources. The Federal Council considers it disproportionate to burden the cantons with this effort.