Slightly decreasing tax burden in the cantons and municipalities

Compared to last year, the tax burden has decreased in about half of the cantons. 24.9% of the resource potential is utilized by the cantons and municipalities in the Swiss average. However, the cantonal differences have hardly changed. This is shown by the tax exploitation index of the Federal Finance Administration (EFV), which indicates the extent to which taxpayers are burdened by taxes from the cantons and municipalities on average.

Tax burden decreased by 0.3% in the Swiss average

‍24.9% of the resource potential was utilized by the cantons and municipalities in the Swiss average. The resource potential reflects the economic potential of the taxpayers and thus the economic strength of the cantons. It is calculated from the sum of the cantonal and municipal fiscal levies, divided by the total resource potential of Switzerland. Compared to the previous year's value (25.2%), the exploitation decreased slightly. In 14 of the 26 cantons, it decreased, most significantly in Appenzell Innerrhoden and Bern. In the other 12 cantons, the tax burden increased, with Schwyz, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St.Gallen, Schaffhausen, and Nidwalden reporting the largest increases in exploitation. The cantonal distribution has hardly changed. The inner Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Zug, and Nidwalden continue to have the lowest tax burden. At the other end of the ranking are the Western Swiss cantons, with Geneva as the canton with the highest tax burden.

‍What is the tax exploitation index?

‍As an indicator of the overall tax burden in a canton, the index, published since 2009, shows how heavily taxpayers are burdened by fiscal revenues from the cantons and municipalities. It does not allow conclusions about tax rates and tax levels, a different tax exploitation may also be due to different shares of individual types of taxes. In its calculations, the Federal Finance Administration relies on figures from fiscal equalization and financial statistics. Thus, the tax exploitation index 2019 shows the ratio between the tax revenues of the cantons and municipalities (calculated as the average of the actual tax revenues of the years 2013 to 2015) and the resource potential for the reference year 2019 (also calculated as the average of the tax assessment years 2013 to 2015). The resource potential is determined in connection with the financial equalization figures and reflects the economic potential of the taxpayers and thus the economic power of the cantons. Source: Federal Finance Administration

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