Parliament decides on a tonnage tax on cargo ships. For some, this type of taxation is an important sign of Switzerland as a business location, for others a sham. Business editor Dario Pelosi explains what this is all about and why Switzerland is anything but a dwarf in international shipping traffic.
What are the benefits of a tonnage tax from the proponents’ point of view? They believe that the tonnage tax is an advantage for international trading groups to be taxed on cargo delivered rather than, for example, on profit. This type of taxation is also common internationally. For example, 21 EU countries have such a regulation that secures favorable taxes for shipping companies. However, this is also intended to ensure that the shipping companies increasingly let their ships sail under European flags instead of flags of convenience. This is to ensure environmental, social and safety standards. The supporters of this tonnage tax hope that Switzerland will be able to maintain its position as an attractive location for international trading companies.
As a landlocked country, why is Switzerland discussing a tax regime for ocean-going container ships? Almost 20 ships are still sailing the seven seas under the Swiss flag. This is very little internationally. However, Switzerland is the location of large shipping companies such as the shipping company MSC. And many Swiss commodity groups also have their own ships. the Swiss Trading and Shipping Association assumes that 22 percent of the ships on the world’s oceans are controlled from Switzerland. And they employ around 300,000 seamen. This makes Switzerland one of the top 10 shipping nations in the world.
The unions were first for the tonnage tax, now against it. Why this rethinking? unions like nautilus hoped that a tonnage tax would give more control over the working conditions of ships, because more ships are flying the European flag. However, the Federal Council has overturned this so-called flag requirement from the current draft. Therefore, the unions now share the position of the critics of the bill. For them, the current version of the tonnage tax is just another big tax gift without ecological or social requirements for international corporations in Switzerland.