Council of States approves mixed financing for the 13th pension
Keystone-SDA
On Thursday, the Swiss Senate approved a committee proposal that the 13th payment of the Swiss old-age and survivors’ (AHV/AVS) pension be financed by employee contributions and Value-Added Tax (VAT).
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Employee contributions are set to rise by 0.2 percentage points, compared with the 0.3 percentage point hitherto proposed by the Senate. VAT, for its part, should be raised by 0.4 percentage points, the parliamentary services indicated. The reduced rate of VAT will remain unchanged at 2.6%.
The House of Representatives had wanted to finance the AHV/AVS payment solely through an increase in VAT until 2033. This solution was not adopted.
The House will vote on the proposal on June 17. If it rejects the proposal, the 13th AHV/AVS pension will be paid from next December, although it is not clear how it will be financed.
+ Extra month of Swiss pension can be paid out from end of 2026
In 2024, Swiss voters approved an initiative to boost monthly payments to help pensioners struggling to make ends meet in the face of inflation and rising living costs.
The initiative, launched by the Swiss Trade Union Federation and backed by left-of-centre parties, called for a 13th monthly pension payment each year from the old-age and survivors’ (OASI) state pension scheme – instead of the standard 12 – similar to the additional 13th monthly salary many employees receive in Switzerland.
Parliament has been discussing how to finance the 13th payment.
Translated from German by AI/jdp
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