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In the latest polls it seemed a narrow yes to increasing tax deductions for children. Now opponents dominate the polls. But he doesn’t reject the entire proposal, and he already has an alternative ready. His chances are good, because the SP is also behind.
Those who have their children cared for in daycare cannot initially deduct more money from taxes than before.
Usually no one wants to object to higher child deductions. The left and some liberals have dared anyway. They approved or supported the referendum against a package that should increase the allowances for day care and children of the federal tax. Parliament had redesigned the template to be almost 40 times more expensive than planned: instead of 10 million francs, the estimated tax losses before the Crown crisis stood at 380 million.
The original proposal comes from the Federal Council. She wanted to make sure that parents who have their children cared for in daycare, daycare, or by a babysitter can deduct more money from taxes. But then another component was added in Parliament that has nothing to do with outpatient care: general child allowances should also be increased.
In the latest GfS survey, 51 percent said yes to increased deductions, 43 percent no, and 6 percent were undecided. On the Sunday of voting, the situation has changed: a whopping 63.2 percent of voters no to increased child allowances.
40 percent of families would not benefit
In parliament, CVP national councilor Philipp Kutter had proposed increasing child allowances and childcare allowances. He and his party argued that all parents should benefit from the deductions. Conservative family models should not be disadvantaged. After some back and forth, a majority in the National Council and the Council of States supported this proposal. In the future, parents should be able to deduct a maximum of CHF 10,000 per child instead of the current maximum of CHF 6,500 from federal tax.
About 40 percent of families would not benefit from the deductions because they earn very little and only pay taxes at the cantonal level and not at the federal level. The biggest savings would be achieved by couples with the highest income. So it’s no wonder that income was a major factor for voting preference in the latest GfS survey – the lower the household income, the more likely respondents were to say no.
Create incentives for both parents to work
Since the whole package is voted on, if you say no, increasing outpatient deductions also fails. At the moment, working parents often have to spend a large part of their second income on daycare, which is why many choose to take care of the children themselves. In most cases, this is done by the mother. Today the deduction for outpatient care is a maximum of 10,100 francs, with the presentation it would have been 25,000 francs.
The federal government estimated the cost of this component at around 10 million. Few parents take care of their children outside the home so frequently that they can claim even the highest deductions. Economically, positive effects could have been expected: The federal government made a cautious forecast of 2,500 full-time positions that could be filled with skilled domestic workers thanks to deductions for daycare.
Parts of the left in parliament also supported increasing childcare allowances. They only defended themselves against the entire bill due to the higher deductions for children. One campaign partner is GLP, which founded a non-liberal committee.
The liberal fought, and now wants to help get the daycare deductions
The position of the FDP was interesting from the beginning. Liberals said no twice in the National Council, on the third vote they said yes, thus helping supporters of a higher deduction for children in parliament to win. Liberals argued from the start that expanding the model contradicted the original goal of creating incentives for well-educated women to return to work after having a child. In the end, however, the majority of the FDP parliamentary group apparently got over the argument that taxes are lower and that those who earn the most in particular benefit from this.
Not all free-minded people liked this. With National Councilor Christa Markwalder and States Councilor Andrea Caroni, two prominent free-spirited MPs supported the liberal referendum committee. Markwalder submitted a proposal to parliament this summer, with which he wants to quickly re-discuss deductions for outpatient care if the ballot box is negative. Several national advisers of the FDP and GLP support the parliamentary initiative.
Plan B has many possibilities: SP will support you
A clear no to the current proposal does not discourage Markwalder. “I think the voters just want to return the package to the sender.” Now it is important to realize the original goal of the bill: Parliament must create incentives for parents to have a more paying job.
Since, in addition to the liberals, the central parliamentary group also supported the increase in childcare allowances in parliament, the position of the Social Democrats will likely be decisive. If they say yes, the increase in childcare deductions should be successful. Markwalder says: “I’m sure we can get the SP on board.”
It is true that the Social Democrats held the referendum primarily because of the increase in general child allowances. But part of the parliamentary group was generally critical of tax deductions. Now when asked, the party chairman Christian Levrat takes a clear position: “We will support Ms Markwalder’s proposal.” However, this is only a first step because very few parents benefit from it. “We need solutions that work for the majority of the population. The clear no to child deductions for the rich proves it once again. “Childcare should be vastly cheaper, if not free at all. This is one of SP’s next projects.
