Individual taxation as an assault on families and federalism

Bureaucracy, billion-franc costs and social injustice: why we must say NO to individual taxation and YES to fairer, federal solutions

The proposal to introduce individual taxation for married couples should be rejected because it would create serious disadvantages for families, the middle class, and federalism, without providing any tangible benefits. Instead of simplifying the tax system, the reform would make it more complex, generating new injustices and creating a huge bureaucratic burden.

To apply individual taxation, couples’ assets would need to be divided as in a divorce, including bank accounts, real estate, and other property. This would make tax administration not only complicated, but also expensive, with the obligation to file 1.7 million additional tax returns each year. Cantons and municipalities would need to hire thousands of new officials and completely revise tax deductions, insurance premiums, and contributions for education and child care.

From a social perspective, the reform would be unfair: it would penalize families with a single main income or a modest second income, while favoring high-income couples without children. In this way, it would particularly hit the middle class and traditional families, exactly those who already support a large part of the tax system.

Finally, the reform would undermine federalism, imposing uniform rules that would eliminate already functioning and flexible cantonal models, which have effectively mitigated the so-called “marriage penalty.” It is therefore not surprising that 21 out of 26 Cantons rejected the proposal during the consultation, considering it a bureaucratic and costly solution that does not solve existing problems.

The “marriage penalty” can be eliminated with simpler, fairer solutions that respect federalism, without harming families or unnecessarily increasing the complexity and cost of the state.

2026 as a milestone for federalism and direct democracy in Switzerland

A historic rejection by the cantons

For the second time since 1874, as many as 10 Cantons have decided to hold a cantonal referendum. A very rare event, sounding like an institutional alarm bell. The Conference of Cantonal Governments (CCG) rejects individual taxation, as do 21 out of 26 Cantons during the consultation process. Supporting the “No” vote were also the FDK, the commerce sector (SGV), and agriculture (SBV).

The message is clear: this reform represents an attack on federalism and cantonal fiscal sovereignty.

A direct attack on families and the middle class

Individual taxation dismantles marriage fiscally, treating spouses as separate individuals rather than an economic and supportive community. Traditional family models, in which one partner performs care and household work, would be penalized. Far from promoting fairness, the reform reduces freedom of choice and devalues the diversity of life plans.

Who really pays the price

The data are clear:

• Single-income families and middle-class families would pay thousands of francs more.

• Families earning less than 250,000 CHF would systematically be among the losers.

• The real winners? High-income couples without children.

Negative effects on families, birth rates, and health

Individual taxation could discourage couples from having children, worsening the problems of population aging and declining youth numbers. Under the current system, families can balance child care responsibilities, often with one spouse dedicating more time to domestic work.

With individual taxation, the spouse currently performing most of the care work (usually the mother) would be forced to enter the external labor market, often at high percentages, to avoid tax penalties, greatly increasing their overall workload.

This work overload would lead to stress, burnout, and other related illnesses, increasing not only the health risks for those involved but also healthcare costs for the state and families. In this way, the reform would not only undermine family well-being and the ability to have children, but also create an additional social and economic burden, contradicting the goal of simplification and fairness in the tax system.

A bureaucratic monster with no added value

Individual taxation would entail:

• +1.7 million additional tax returns per year

• Thousands of new tax officials

• Million-franc IT costs across all 26 Cantons

• More disputes, appeals, and legal cases

• Billion-franc costs and financial risks

The reform would cause 1 billion CHF in lost annual revenue for the Confederation, with additional losses for Cantons and Municipalities. Not to mention the billions required to transform systems and years of parallel management.

An incoherent and legally problematic system

Individual taxation violates the principle of ability to pay and conflicts with civil law and social insurance, which continue to consider marriage as an economic and social community. The result would be greater legal uncertainty and the creation of new incentives for tax abuse.

In a country like Switzerland, known for democracy, freedom, and respect for individual choices, this reform would discriminate against traditional married families, penalizing those who organize their family life according to established models. Instead of promoting equity and freedom, individual taxation would impose a centralized, uniform approach, contradicting the country’s historical values and threatening the legal and social stability of families.

Ideological centralism and an attack on federalism

Many Cantons have already found effective, federalism-compatible solutions to mitigate the marriage penalty.

The introduction of individual taxation would destroy these working models, imposing a centralist intervention that uniforms rules nationwide, reducing Cantonal autonomy. In the name of an ideological experiment, the reform ignores local specificities and provides no concrete evidence of the alleged benefits on the labor market. Pragmatism and flexibility already present in cantonal systems would be replaced by bureaucracy, additional costs, and top-down rules.

Conclusion

Individual taxation solves no problems. It creates many: more injustice, more bureaucracy, higher costs, and less federalism.

There are simpler, fairer solutions that respect cantonal powers to eliminate the marriage penalty.