Last Sunday, corporate tax reform plans were rejected by 59.1 per cent of Swiss voters in a referendum — a much larger margin of defeat than opinion polls had suggested. Under the reform, #RIEIII in French, “the country’s 26 cantons would have continued to compete to offer companies the most favourable tax rates”, as the Financial Times explains. “The unexpectedly clear No vote suggested that the global anti-establishment mood had reached Switzerland. The reforms had been backed overwhelmingly by the two chambers of the Swiss parliament as well as the government, with opposition largely from leftwing parties”, the Financial Times analyses.  Indeed, the reform had been passed last year, but its opponents gathered the 50.000 signatures required to organize a popular consultation.

AllianceSud, the Swiss Alliance of Development Organizations, celebrated the No vote, “a huge success for tax justice activists in Switzerland and all over the world”, adding “We will continue to fight for a globally fair corporate tax system in Switzerland and do our best for a new draft law which will fulfill the BEPS standards without new loopholes like NID, loose Patentboxes and others”. AllianceSud’s comprehensive analysis of the RIEIII is available on their website.

You can see two short videos with civil society’s views on RIEIII and its link with the defense of public services, in French, here. You can also read or hear a thorough piece in French on France Culture’s website.

Picture ©Daniel Hitzig/Alliance Sud