4 ms·

Where it will come from?

• nokya 11y ago
  The Law defines the existence of a basic income for all citizens and the conditions it should meet, literally, "to allow any citizen to live with dignity and participate in the social life". The exact amount of the income is unknown and not part of the Law and any press article is basically reporting based on speculations. The source of the income is also not part of the initiative. It is the Government's duty to find a way to finance it once the Swiss citizens have decided there should be one. There are two major suspected targets for collecting the necessary money. First source would be the VAT, through an increase of the current VAT. It is currently set at 8% and it's among the lowest in the world (the Swiss public administration workers are very efficient and working in a public office is not typically the kind of job given to people with personal issues as in many other countries). The second potential source is a taxation on trading operations. Even the slightest taxation rate on trading operations (aka 0.00001% capped at 0.01$) would immediately solve the issue of funding the revenue.
  • derriz 11y ago
    How could a "slight" financial transaction tax raise 250 billion in revenue? The profits of the entire banking sector in Switzerland is only 20 billion a year. The entire economy of Switzerland (GDP) is only about 800 billion. Similarly arithmetically impossible claims were made by European politicians arguing for an FTT two years ago - claiming they would raise 100s of billions from an industry (HFT) which only generates 5 billion or so profits a year - worldwide.
  • dschiptsov 11y ago
    > The source of the income is also not part of the initiative. In other circumstances this could be classified as a mental disorder.