Zurich: Wealthy foreigners exit after tax changes

GENEVA: The region of Zurich, the home of Swiss banking, has lost nearly half its foreign millionaires two years after scrapping special tax breaks, official figures show. Of the 201 foreign residents who benefited from the tax breaks which the canton scrapped in early 2009, 97 have decamped to more favourable tax regimes, the region’s tax services department said. Those departures represent a loss of $13 million in tax revenues last year, however that figure is more than recouped by the higher tax bills charged to the high-earners who decided to stay on. Switzerland has come under pressure from its neighbours – many of which have depleted state coffers – as well as from some of its own citizens over its flat rate tax system that has attracted the wealthiest to claim residency here. Last week Switzerland as a whole took a step towards higher taxes on 5,000 wealthy foreign residents, with the upper chamber of parliament approving a bill for a higher tax rate.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2012.