[ad_1]
The vote on child deductions next Sunday should be adjusted. According to the latest SRG poll, 52 percent of those eligible to vote tend to reject the proposal, while 43 percent tend to agree with it. Faced with this initial situation, the SP national councilor, Jacqueline Badran (58), is more upset because the voting book deals with numbers “that no one understands” and that are “totally misleading”, as the Zurich woman exclaims.
Because it is? In the official explanations of children’s deductions, a table shows how much a couple with two children can save thanks to the template (see graph). The information is related to taxable income; that’s what remains when you’ve claimed all the deductions on your tax return. “That’s a joke,” says Badran. “Everyone knows how much they earn, but hardly anyone knows their taxable income.”
In fact, the two amounts can vary significantly. With a taxable income of 100,000 francs, he benefits from a child allowance of 350 francs. Actual income can be up to 60,000 francs higher and therefore 160,000 francs.
“That is the wrong measure”
“It is precisely this difference that shows that medium-sized companies may believe that they will benefit from allowances for children,” says Badran. “That is not true at all!” The Social Democrat is not only upset by the numbers in the voting book. He also accuses his political opponents (child deductions were introduced in parliament by CVP and supported by SVP and FDP) of providing misleading information.
CVP announces that, thanks to the bill, 60 percent of all families would feel relieved. “That is the wrong measure,” says Badran. Not only families must be taken into account, but all households, since in the end the general public will pay the tax losses of 370 million francs. And this shows a different picture: “Six percent of all households claim 70 percent of tax losses.” In other words: “Few benefit much, but the vast majority get nothing.”
Federal Tax Administration inquiry: Why is taxable income indicated in the voting book? According to a spokesperson, the reason is that, depending on the constellation, very different tax deductions are possible for the same gross income, making a generally applicable filing difficult.
Midsize businesses are relieved with deductions
For example, it makes a difference if a couple is married or not, or if only one person or both work. However, with taxable income, none of this plays a role.
And what does CVP say about the criticism of offending the number of beneficiaries in its campaign? “It is the SP that compares apples with pears here”, responds the National Councilor of CVP, Marianne Binder (62). “We are based on the figures from the finance department. They say that 60 percent of all families benefit. “The presentation is about deductions for children, it stands to reason that households with children benefit.” And 900,000 of them.
In addition, it is precisely the middle class that will be relieved by the deductions, says Binder. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this includes families with incomes between 100,000 and 215,000 francs. You get 49 percent of the discounts, says Binder. “How the SP can claim that the winners of the roster are only the super rich is a mystery to me.”
The moral of the story? Each statistic can be interpreted in this way, or in a completely different way.
