Lucerne rejects increase in corporate taxes.

The Lucerne Parliament rejected the government planned increases in corporate taxes amounting to CHF 23 million. The planned minimum tax for corporations was also rejected by the Cantonal Council.

No new tax

By 2017, the Lucerne government intends to implement relief of the cantonal budget amounting to 194 million francs. An important contribution of 15% was supposed to come from additional tax revenue generated by the increase of corporate taxes and the introduction of a minimum tax. The aim is to prevent new debt accumulation in the canton. The CVP vehemently fought the increases in corporate taxes with motions and justified this by stating that they reject selective tax increases and hasty measures (Luzernerzeitung). The minimum tax for companies, set at CHF 500, was rejected by a vote of 55 to 47. The politicians agreed that it was wrong to further burden small businesses. Michèle Graber of the GLP saw it differently. The minimum tax is justified, since more than half of the companies pay less than CHF 500 in taxes. The Cantonal Council also rejected the abolition of the deduction for self-care and the simultaneous increase of the deduction for external care. The limitation of the deduction for travel expenses to CHF 3,000 also did not find a majority in the parliament. This disadvantages peripheral regions, argued Angela Lüthold (SVP). The reduction of the mitigation of the economic double burden of income was also rejected. This is not surprising, as the generous mitigation of double taxation is an important locational advantage for the canton.

The voting result will accommodate company founders and maintain the attractiveness of Lucerne as a location. Lucerne continues to be popular for company foundations as the statistics from STARTUPS.CH show. In October 2014, +18% more companies were founded compared to October 2013.

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