Swiss voters to decide on inheritance tax rise for ultra wealthy

Switzerland has long been a haven for the ultra rich. Its 300 wealthiest residents are worth a combined 850 billion Swiss Francs, or just over $1 trillion, according to business magazine Bilanz. But on Sunday, voters will go to the polls to vote on an inheritance tax that has riled them up.

The proposal to tax every inheritance and gift of more than 50 million Swiss Francs at 50% is likely to be defeated. A recent poll put support at just 30%.

But close followers of the debate told CNBC the initiative has shaken wealthy individuals and family-owned companies since it was proposed in 2024. Swiss billionaire Peter Spuhler, founder and owner of Stadler Rail, has threatened to leave the country if the tax becomes law. He told told Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger that his family would struggle to pay such a tax as their wealth is tied up in companies.

“A lot of people who would be affected talked to their consultants and their tax lawyers, and they did the paperwork to be sure that this time of the year, a week before the final vote, they are ready to move out if necessary,” Stefan Legge from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland told CNBC on Friday.

Legge, who conducted research into the potential impact of the tax, said: “If you target the super wealthy, they are like queens on a chessboard.”

“They are very mobile. They have tons of options to optimize their taxes,” he added.

Kurt Moosmann, president of the Swiss Single Family Office Association, told CNBC the proposal had caused “a certain uncertainty among family offices and has kept foreign capital holders away from Switzerland.”

Legge said a 50% tax would likely lead to tax revenue falling. He said that around 2,000 people, or 0.3% of Switzerland’s population, would be affected and they currently pay between 5 and 6 billion Swiss Francs a year.

Powerful Swiss business lobby Economiesuisse has called talk of an inheritance tax a “superfluous and damaging discussion”

“We are dependent on good tax payers to finance our state,” it warned.

Legge said Switzerland faced competition from wealth centers in the Middle East and other countries in Europe, but added Switzerland was “still very strong” on “finding the right balance between taxes and the right public services.”

When asked whether wealthy clients were scared, Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of Swiss private bank EFG International, told CNBC on Tuesday, “If you look at the overall competitive landscape, Switzerland remains the No. 1 destination for international private banking and wealth management. We have an ecosystem that is super healthy and strong.”

The proposal came from the youth wing of the country’s left-wing Social Democrats. If successful, money raised from the tax would fund policies to combat climate change.