From 2028, the canton is expected to lose 56 million francs in revenue, and the municipalities 67 million francs. Several municipalities therefore opposed the proposal, while the Association of Municipalities remained neutral. Not only the SP and the Greens, but also part of the center rejected the tax cuts.
Nevertheless, Sunday’s referendum resulted in a comfortable yes majority of 67 percent. 83,436 voted in favor of the proposal and 41,279 rejected it. Voter turnout was 45.57 percent.
The government councillor said he was “pleased to note the clear result”. The yes vote would preserve the canton’s tax attractiveness and its financial stability. He cited “the balanced nature of the tax law revision” as the reason for the large vote of approval.
Effective abolition of equity tax
One pillar of the tax law revision is the de facto abolition of the equity tax for companies. This will be gradually reduced from 0.5 per mille to a minimum of 0.01 per mille by 2028. This is intended to prevent the migration of capital-rich companies.
Thanks to a new degressive social deduction, people with low incomes and families who can claim higher deductions will also be relieved. Those who receive money from pension benefits will also pay less tax than today.
Money expected from OECD tax
The tax law revision also provides the legal basis for the participation of the Lucerne municipalities in the additional revenue from the OECD minimum tax. Of the expected 400 million francs in additional revenue, 80 million will go to the municipalities. This will help the municipalities to cushion the tax shortfalls resulting from the revision of the law, the government council explained on Sunday.
The bourgeois committee that supported the tax law revision announced that voting Sunday was “a good day for Lucerne’s middle class and the business location.” The proposal gives families and the middle class more breathing room and improves the compatibility of family and work.
By accepting the tax law revision, the canton of Lucerne is also positioning itself as an attractive location for research and development, the supporters explained. They are convinced that this could create new tax revenues and jobs, and thus prosperity.
Left claims “respectable success”
The SP and the Greens see the result of the vote as a respectable success because the proportion of 33 percent of the no vote is higher than their own share of the vote. A third of the voting population is against the “one-sided tax preferences of international corporations and the rich,” the SP said in its statement.
The SP is calling on the canton to take into account the reservations of many municipalities about the tax proposal. The revision of the tax legislation was approved in all municipalities, including the six municipalities (Emmen, Dierikon, Ebikon, Flühli, Pfaffnau and Malters) that had openly spoken out against it.
The proposal was approved by the narrowest margin of all Lucerne municipalities in Emmen, with 53.4 percent of the votes in favor. In Meierskappel, the approval rate was 82.25 percent.
Complaint pending
The SP has lodged an appeal against the cantonal vote with the Federal Court. The SP criticised the government council for presenting the tax proposal in a one-sided and non-transparent manner in the vote message.
The bill approved on Sunday is to come into force on January 1, 2025, despite the pending voting rights appeal. The Federal Court will probably make its decision next year, the government council said. Taxes for 2025, however, do not have to be declared until 2026.
