8 March 2026 | Briefing
Individual Taxation Approved in
Referendum
8 March 2026 | Briefing
Individual Taxation Approved in
Referendum
On 8 March 2026, the Swiss electorate approved the Federal Act on Individual Taxation with approximately 55% of the votes. The public vote was necessary because an optional referendum had been called by the people and the cantons.
In the future, each person will be taxed individually, regardless of marital status. The joint taxation of spouses will be abandoned. This also means that the mutual right of inspection of tax files for spouses will no longer apply. Each spouse will only be liable for their own taxes and will have to fulfil their own procedural obligations or may exercise their procedural rights.
Each person will have to file their own tax return, declare their own income and assets and claim their own deductions.
The attribution of income, assets and deductions will be made in accordance with civil law rules.
In the case of lump sum taxation, the fulfilment of the requirements will be assessed for each spouse separately, which means that one spouse can be taxed under the lump sum regime and the other ordinarily. At the same time, the tax bases will apply separately for each person, which means that married couples in which both spouses claim lump sum taxation will pay tax on at least twice the minimum tax base.
At the federal level, there will only be one tax rate.
The child deduction for direct federal tax will be increased from the current total of CHF 6,800 to a total of CHF 12,000 per child. In principle, the parents are entitled to half of the child-related deductions and the income and assets of the children are also divided in half for declaration by the parents (in the case of joint parental custody). More detailed explanations are given below.
The entry into force is scheduled for 2032 at the latest. By then, the cantons must comply with the changes provided by federal law. It is currently unclear how exactly the cantons will implement the new rules and what impact the reform will have on tax rates and thus on the tax burden in the cantons.
An early examination of the effects on your own situation as well as optimization possibilities is recommended.
In the future, each person will be taxed individually, regardless of marital status. The joint taxation of spouses will be abandoned. This also means that the mutual right of inspection of tax files for spouses will no longer apply. Each spouse will only be liable for their own taxes and will have to fulfil their own procedural obligations or may exercise their procedural rights.
Each person will have to file their own tax return, declare their own income and assets and claim their own deductions.
The attribution of income, assets and deductions will be made in accordance with civil law rules.
In the case of lump sum taxation, the fulfilment of the requirements will be assessed for each spouse separately, which means that one spouse can be taxed under the lump sum regime and the other ordinarily. At the same time, the tax bases will apply separately for each person, which means that married couples in which both spouses claim lump sum taxation will pay tax on at least twice the minimum tax base.
At the federal level, there will only be one tax rate.
The child deduction for direct federal tax will be increased from the current total of CHF 6,800 to a total of CHF 12,000 per child. In principle, the parents are entitled to half of the child-related deductions and the income and assets of the children are also divided in half for declaration by the parents (in the case of joint parental custody). More detailed explanations are given below.
The entry into force is scheduled for 2032 at the latest. By then, the cantons must comply with the changes provided by federal law. It is currently unclear how exactly the cantons will implement the new rules and what impact the reform will have on tax rates and thus on the tax burden in the cantons.
An early examination of the effects on your own situation as well as optimization possibilities is recommended.
