In the canton of Lucerne, the equity tax for companies is falling to 0.01 per thousand. People with low incomes and families will also receive tax relief. Voters have approved a tax package that will result in high losses for the public sector.
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.
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.
With the tax cuts, the canton wants to ensure that it does not lose touch in the tax competition. The SP and the Greens criticised that the focus was too much on large and international companies. (sda)
