DAVOS: A major reform of Switzerland’s corporate tax system will be put to the vote on February 12 but the result is too close to call, according to a latest poll. Backers of the reform have seen a 15-point lead go up in smoke since the previous poll three weeks ago.
According to details, supporters now have just a one-point lead – with a 2.7% margin of error – over opponents led by the political left, according to a second opinion poll published on Wednesday by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, swissinfo.ch’s parent company.
While 45% of respondents in the poll, carried out by the leading GfS Bern research institute, are for the amendment and 44% against, another 11% said they were still undecided. In the first poll, 15% weren’t sure which box to cross.
The reform seeks to put the Swiss corporate tax system in line with the norms of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), harmonising fiscal rates for foreign and domestic firms. It will also include new tax breaks on research and development carried out by companies.
Supporters say the amendment to the law will help attract even more multinational companies to Switzerland. Opponents argue that taxpayers, and particularly the middle class, will ultimately foot the bill if the strategy fails and leads to a multi-million franc shortfall in revenue, as was the case with a previous corporate tax reform voted on in 2008.
Another issue to be decided on February 12 is a plan to ease the citizenship procedure under certain conditions for so called third-generation immigrants (with grandparents and parents who have already lived in Switzerland, at least temporarily).
Supporters will be slightly less confident than they were three weeks ago, when 74% of respondents said they would approve the constitutional amendment. That figure has now dropped to 66%.
The latest citizenship amendment is seen as a modest version of a proposal that was rejected by voters in 2004. Its aim was to grant Swiss citizenship automatically to third-generation immigrants and it sought to simplify the procedure for second-generation immigrants.
A clear majority, 62%, also backs a proposal to re-organise the funding of the country’s motorway network and roads in urban areas, according to Wednesday’s poll. This has increased by two percentage points since January 6.
So far, there has been little public controversy over the issue and only the Green Party has come out against the change to the constitution.
The proposal adopted by parliament is seen as a compromise to appease the car lobby which had asked for a massive increase in funds for road transport. The proposal was rejected in a nationwide vote last year.
