A petition with more than 850 signatures was filed Tuesday at the Grand Council of Vaud. Handed over to the presidency of the legislature, she asks that the Council of State finally put an end to joint and several liability for tax debt in the event of divorce and separation, a practice which essentially harms women.
At the federal tax level, fiscal solidarity stops as soon as the spouses do not (or no longer) live in a common household, and this also concerns taxes that are still unpaid. Vaud is the only French-speaking canton to maintain this unlimited solidarity for cantonal and communal taxes, recall the authors of the petition, the women’s parliamentary intergroup (Intergroup F).
This means that the ex-spouses remain jointly and severally liable for the tax debt for the period up to the moment when the de facto separation is recognized. It is only from then on that they are subject to individual taxation.
Pay your ex’s debts
If the spouse with the highest income and wealth does not pay their tax debt, it is up to the financially weaker spouse to pay all the taxes due. The tax authorities turn once morest the “solvent” party, also with retroactive effect. A practice that mainly penalizes women, denounce the petitioners.
“It has to stop; it’s no longer possible,” said Martine Gagnebin, president of the Vaud Women’s Rights Association, handing the petition to Séverine Evéquoz, president of Parliament.
“Every week, mums in this situation come to see us. Often working part-time, they are subject to wage garnishments. Already stigmatized as single mums, ashamed, they resign themselves to paying their ex’s debts. And it can last years”, testified Marie-Anne Dauvillier, general secretary of the Association of single-parent and blended families. A situation that is not without consequences for their children.
Parliamentary intervention
“We had hope a year ago, with the motion of Socialist MP Muriel Thalmann, accepted by a large majority of 105 MPs,” she added. Transformed into a postulate, it demanded that the law be amended to purely and simply put an end to this joint and several liability.
Only, a year later, at the end of June 2022, the Council of State refused, replying that this practice is in accordance with the principle of the unity of taxation of the family and that it does not discriminate once morest women. “He also considered the change of practice too complicated and costly,” noted Muriel Thalmann.
For the government, we must wait for the announced modification of the federal legal framework aimed at introducing individual taxation, added the MP. She points out that this change can go quickly as well as take years.
Comparison with other cantons
Present at the presentation of the petition, the new State Councilor Valérie Dittli, head of the Department of Finance and Agriculture, said she was “sensitive” on this subject. “We are in the process of examining the situation and comparing it with other cantons. We will then assess our room for maneuver,” she told Keystone-ATS.
At the level of Parliament, the petition will now be studied by a committee. It will then be debated before the Grand Council, said Ms. Evéquoz.
Apolitical, the Intergoupe F petition, is supported by Humanrights.ch, by the Swiss League for Human Rights, as well as many other associations.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
