What's behind the 10.000-franc immigrant tax proposal in Switzerland?
By Jan de Boer
With the threat of the No 10 Million Switzerland! referendum looming ever larger, lawmakers have been scrambling to find a compromise to prevent the radical proposal from passing. Now, a new plan would see Swiss companies pay 10.000 francs for every worker they plan to bring to the alpine nation.
New 10.000-franc EU migrant tax proposed in Switzerland
Under the proposal, due to be submitted by FDP. The Liberals National Councillor Simon Michel, international companies and local businesses who want to bring an EU citizen over to fill a job in Switzerland would have to pay a one-off tax of 10.000 francs per new worker. This “solidarity contribution” would then be spent on bolstering Swiss social security and other government programmes.
Michel said that the tax would only apply when immigration to Switzerland is “high” - amid the fastest population growth seen since the 1960s, it remains unclear what “high” means. The charge would also only apply to companies which employ more than 250 people, and all catering and hotel companies would be exempt.
Calls grow for a migration tax in Switzerland
This isn't the first time that a large tax on immigrants has been proposed in Switzerland. As recently as October 2024, a prominent local economist argued that there should be a 50.000-franc tax on immigrants, as compensation for new arrivals not completing national service.
Alongside the solidarity tax, Michel also proposed that the Swiss government introduce a strict quota on new residence permits for migrants from both the EU and overseas. This would be imposed if migration to Switzerland is noticeably higher than the average for nations in the EU.
Why is Switzerland debating migration taxes?
The proposals were made in response to two major factors gripping Swiss politics. The first is the No 10 Million Switzerland! Initiative from the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which if approved would force the government to radically limit immigration should the population grow by around 500.000 residents before 2050 - regardless of the impact on the economy and Switzerland’s relationship with the EU.
The FDP's immigrant tax and cap are designed to be a counter-proposal to the initiative and a compromise between doing nothing and imposing harsher measures. Though the Federal Council has promised “accompanying measures” to address the SVP’s concerns, Michel fears they won’t be strong enough to stop the No 10 Million Switzerland! referendum from passing.
The move also comes as Switzerland and the European Union inch closer to a new agreement, which should include a safeguard clause that allows the government to take “protective measures” if immigration reaches a certain level. Again, Michel argued that the idea is too general to be effective, and once again makes the SVP’s victory more likely.
SVP migration proposals can be defeated, Green Party assures
The proposal does have some support, with the Centre Party telling Blick that they had already tried a similar approach in the summer. For their part, the Social Democratic Party refused to rule out supporting the proposals, with the aim of thwarting the No 10 Million Switzerland! Initiative.
Others are not so sure, with Green Liberal Party chairman Jürg Grossen arguing that an agreement with the EU needs to be reached before Switzerland can start asking for yet more migration restrictions.
However, with Switzerland projected to face a shortage of 460.000 workers by 2035, a quarter of the population expected to be retired by the end of a decade and the birth rate remaining well below replacement rates, migration will only become more vital. Already, other European countries like Germany are taking steps to streamline immigration to help plug the demographic gap.
“The FDP has completely lost its way,” argued Green Party president Lizza Mazzone, adding that the SVP's proposals should be rejected rather than used to find compromise. She concluded that if parties work together to highlight the wide benefits immigration provides and pays for, the No 10 Million Switzerland! proposal and the "isolation that the SVP wants to impose" can be defeated at the ballot box without having to give in to any of their demands.
Thumb image credit: mcroff88 / Shutterstock.com
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more