Tag Archive: Politics

Call for pensions paid abroad to be taxed at source

2018-03-15

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2018-03-15

A proposal to tax at source the old-age pensions of Swiss retirees living abroad has been made in parliament. The aim is to prevent differential treatment of pensioners based on where they live. On Wednesday, Christian Democrat senator Peter Hegglin tabled an interpellationexternal link in parliament to address unequal treatment between pensioners who reside in Switzerland those who opt to spend their twilight years abroad.

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review: The New Normal Continues

2018-03-14

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2018-03-14

There has been a lot of talk about the economic impact of the recent tax reform. All of it, including the analyses that include lots of fancy math, amounts to nothing more than speculation, usually informed by little more than the political bias of the analyst. I am guilty of that too to some degree but I don’t let my personal political views dictate how I view the economy for purposes of investing.

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Global Asset Allocation Update: Tariffs Don’t Warrant A Change…Yet

2018-03-12

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2018-03-12

Moderate Allocation
There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor the allocation to bonds is 50%, risk assets 45% and cash 5%. We have had continued volatility since the last update but the market action so far is pretty mundane. The initial selloff halted at the 200 day moving average and the rebound carried to just over the 50 day moving average.

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Tax ‘total meltdown’ averted

2018-03-11

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2018-03-11

More than 84% of voters have renewed the government’s right to tax its citizens and companies for another 15 years. This is a unique feature of Switzerland’s political system of direct democracy and federalism. Live results of March 04 2018 ballot: Licence fee for public broadcasters and Federal taxes 2021.

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FX Daily, March 05: Italian Election Weighs on Italian Assets, but Little Systemic Risk Seen

2018-03-05

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2018-03-05

The US dollar is narrowly mixed. The Japanese yen remains firm. The dollar appears stuck in a narrow range. Near JPY105.20 the seems to be some short-covering pressure in front of JPY105. On the top side, the greenback is encountering offers in front of JPY105.80. Sterling is firm against the dollar as it recovers against the euro. Before the weekend, the euro reached GBP0.8950, its best levels since last November. The euro is testing GBP0.8900...

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Vaud – vote on divisive dental tax and care plan

2018-02-21

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2018-02-21

On 4 March 2018, voters in Vaud will vote on a plan to provide basic universal dental care funded by a tax on salaries. The initiative entitled: Reimbursement of dental care, Pour le remboursement des soins dentaires in French, claims that 10% of the population avoid the dentist because of the cost. They also claim links between poor dental health and cancer, diabetes and premature births. Their plan envisages the creation of a network of...

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Economics minister praises Swiss tax system

2018-01-28

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2018-01-28

Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann has downplayed concerns that Swiss-based American firms might relocate to the United States in the wake of tax reform. Speaking in Davos ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump, Schneider-Ammann said that if he were head of an American company he would think twice before such a relocation, since there is no guarantee the tax breaks will still be in place a few years from now.

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Swiss president says Trump meeting was productive

2018-01-27

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2018-01-27

Swiss President Alain Berset says his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos was productive and frank. Trump took credit for making Switzerland “even richer”. "You have a lot of our stock in the United States so I have helped to make Switzerland even richer," Trump said shortly after the meeting. He said a booming US economy was good for Switzerland.

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New poll on vote to axe Swiss broadcast fee suggests rejection

2018-01-25

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2018-01-25

TVs
A poll run by the media group Tamedia shows a clear majority in favour of rejecting the initiative, dubbed “No Billag”, which aims to end Switzerland’s broadcasting fee. This poll follows one done in December 2017, which showed a majority in favour of the initiative.

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Tax amnesty programme turns up billions in undeclared assets

2018-01-24

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2018-01-24

According to the results of a survey published Sunday in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, CHF31.7 billion ($32.9 billion) in undeclared assets have been reported to tax authorities in Switzerland over the last eight years.

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Switzerland stays attractive for companies and top earners

2018-01-18

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2018-01-18

Switzerland remains an attractive tax destination for both companies and top earners in 2017, according to a survey of major global business locations published on Wednesday. But it warned planned US tax reform will increase competition.

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Italian Election–Two Months and Counting

2018-01-07

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2018-01-07

italy
Germany does not have a government, though the election was more than three months ago. Spain, Portugal, and Ireland have minority governments. Austria is the first government since the financial crisis to include the populist right. The EU is trying to press the Visegrad group of central European countries to conform to the values of Western European members.

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The Past is Not Passed: 2017 Spills into 2018

2018-01-03

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2018-01-03

The New Year may have begun in fact, but in practice, full participation may return only after the release of US employment data on January 5. The macroeconomic and policy tables have been set, though interpolating from the Overnight Index Swaps market, there is 45% chance the Bank of Canada hikes rates at its policy meeting near the middle of the month.

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49 Countries Have Violated Sanctions On North Korea

2017-12-12

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2017-12-12

49 Countries have violated sanctions on North Korea
A new report from the Institute for Science and International Security has found that 49 countries violated sanctions on North Korea to varying degrees between March 2014 and September 2017. 13 governments including Cuba, Egypt, Iran and Syria were involved in military violations, which as Statista's Martin Armstrong notes, includes either receiving military training from North Korea or being involved in the import and export of military equipment.

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FX Weekly Preview: Politics may Continue to Overshadow Economics

2017-12-04

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2017-12-04

The new monthly cycle of high frequency economic data has begun. The manufacturing PMI shows the synchronized global recovery is continuing. The service sector and composite PMI will be reported in the week ahead. They are unlikely altering the general expectation for robust growth in Q4.

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FX Daily, December 01: Dollar Consolidates Weekly Gain, while Equities Ease to Start New Month

2017-12-01

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2017-12-01

The release of the manufacturing PMIs confirm that the synchronized global expansion remains intact. The focus today is on three unresolved political challenges: US tax reform, the UK-Irish border and the talks that may produce another grand coalition in Germany. The US dollar is mixed, with the dollar-bloc currencies and Scandis pushing higher.

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Saudi Billionaires Scramble To Move Cash Offshore, Escape Asset Freeze

2017-11-16

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2017-11-16

Saudi Crackdown
Over the weekend, Saudi King Salman shocked the world by abruptly announcing the arrests of 11 senior princes and some 38 ministers, including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the world’s sixty-first richest man and the largest shareholder in Citi, News Corp. and Twitter.

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Swiss tax spy avoids jail time as Frankfurt trial ends

2017-11-12

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2017-11-12

A Swiss man on trial in Frankfurt has been found guilty of spying on the tax authorities of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). ‘Daniel M.’ was handed a suspended sentence of 22 months and a fine of €40,000 (CHF46,600). The verdict brings to a premature end the twists and turns of a case that brought scrutiny on Swiss-German diplomatic relations since the arrest of the 54-year-old in April this year.

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If American Federalism Were Like Swiss Federalism, There Would Be 1,300 States

2017-11-03

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2017-11-03

In a recent interview with Mises Weekends, Claudio Grass examined some of the advantages of the Swiss political system, and how highly decentralized politics can bring with it great economic prosperity, more political stability, and a greater respect for property rights. Since the Swiss political system of federalism is itself partially inspired by 19th-century American federalism, the average American can usually imagine in broad terms what the...

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Three Developments in Europe You may have Missed

2017-10-29

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2017-10-29

The focus in Europe has been Catalonia's push for independence and the attempt by Madrid to prevent it. Tomorrow's ECB meeting, where more details about next year's asset purchases, is also awaited. There are three developments that we suspect have been overshadowed but are still instructive. First, the ECB reported that its balance sheet shrank last week. With the ECB set to take another baby step toward the exit, many are seeing convergence,...

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