Zurich Cantonal Council lowers tax rate to 95 percent

Zurich Cantonal Council has announced that it will lower tax rates from 98 percent to 95 percent starting in 2026. This is the largest tax reduction in over two decades.

Cantonal tax in Zurich reduces to 95 percent

The Zurich Cantonal Council has ended the year with some good news for residents. The council has approved a proposal from the Finance Committee and the Centre Party to reduce the cantonal tax rate. The Steuerfuss will be reduced by three percentage points, from 98 percent to 95 percent, starting in 2026.

Cantonal tax is just one of the types of tax people in Switzerland are liable to pay, along with federal income tax and council tax. In the Canton of Zurich, the amount you earn determines a base tax (Einfache Staatssteuer), which is then multiplied by cantonal and municipal multipliers to get the total amount owed.

From 2026, at a cantonal level, Zurich residents can multiply their base tax by 0,95 to calculate how much cantonal tax they will pay. 20 Minuten reports that the tax reduction will save a single-parent household earning 40.000 Swiss francs around 25 Swiss francs, and a married couple earning 1 million Swiss francs around 3.439 Swiss francs.

Biggest tax reduction in Zurich in 20 years

The decision was part of a vote on the canton’s budget, which passed in the council by 116 votes to 57. The reduction in cantonal tax rates is “the largest tax cut in over twenty years”, reports 20 Minuten. 

SVP councillor and president of the Finance Committee, Karl Heinz Meyer, said that it was a “central decision in cantonal financial policy”. Tax rates can often “determine how attractive the canton remains for individuals and businesses”, reports SRF.

The Greens, Social Democrats and the EVP supported keeping the tax rates at 98 percent. A reduction would “result in considerable revenue loss” to the canton and the proposal was a “frontal attack on the canton’s resilience”, according to councillor Tobias Langenegger (SP).