In a referendum today, the citizens of Switzerland approved an increase in the minimum tax for companies and the Climate Act, whose goal is to reduce the use of fossil fuels and zero emissions by 2050, the public service SRF announced, reports N1.
Nearly 80 percent of those who voted in the national referendum supported raising the country's business tax to 15 percent, from the current average minimum rate of 11 percent, while the Climate Act was supported by 59 percent of voters, Reuters reported.
In 2021, Switzerland was among nearly 140 countries that signed an agreement by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to set a minimum tax rate for large companies, which should limit the practice of shifting profits to countries with low tax rates.
Even with this increase, Switzerland will have one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world, and the new law, which is estimated to bring the state two and a half billion francs in additional revenue annually, has been supported by business groups, most political parties and the public.
The climate law, which was brought back in an amended form after being rejected in 2021 as too expensive, has sparked much more debate in recent weeks with those against its passage.
Proponents of the law say that this is the minimum that a rich country should do to prove its commitment to the fight against climate change, while opponents from the right-wing People's Party argue that it will threaten energy security.
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