Swiss Review 3/2021

Swiss Review / June 2021 / No.3 25 Corehendi beaqui est rehe nissim et peror aboria nonsequia quas exeri doluptati qui debis magnim estioreru Switzerland in figures Unhappy brewers, happy revenue officers 7680 Cook, bake, eat – put on weight. People in Switzerland have been eating more during the pandemic. The average Swiss household spent 7,680 francs on food and drink in 2020 – more than ever before and 11.3 per cent more than in 2019. 34 000 000 Beer consumption also increased, right? Wrong. It fell significantly, because no one could visit their local pub for months. The shortfall equates to 34 million fewer glasses of beer served compared to the previous year. 10 From civil servants to police officers to teachers – Switzerland’s “bloated” public services are one of the things that pub regulars love to grumble about over a beer or three. Let’s do a fact check. Ten per cent of employed people work in the public sector. The figure is 14 in Italy, 16 in the UK, 22 in France and as high as 29 in Sweden. 56 Sweden? Switzerland? People often confuse the two countries. Are our public-sector workers less happy in their jobs than Sweden’s considerable contingent? Not at all. Only 21 per cent would like to change jobs. On the other hand, 56 per cent of Switzerland’s private-sector workforce are unhappy in their current job. 7160 000 000 Revenue officers also belong to the public sector. Tax exiles certainly do not. Swiss companies and individuals have plenty of wealth squirrelled away abroad – amounting to 5.68 billion francs in lost tax revenue. Foreign tax exiles in Switzerland, on the other hand, provide our country with 12.84 billion francs in additional tax income. This gives a net profit of 7.16 billion francs. F IGURES COMPI LED BY MARC LETTAU What about military service if I return to Switzerland? I am a 19-year-old Swiss citizen who has grown up in Brazil. I am nowthinking of doing a bachelor’s degree in Switzerland after I leave school. But what about Swiss military service? Essentially, every Swissmale aged 18 or overmust domilitary service or, alternatively, civilian service until the end of the year in which he reaches the age of 36. If you return to Switzerland, you will therefore be required to fulfil your military service obligation – assuming that you are deemed fit formilitary service. You are liable for conscription until the end of the year in which you reach the age of 24. You must complete basic military training by the end of the following year, i.e. the year in which you turn 25. If youwish to study in Switzerland and therefore intend to stay in Switzerland for a period of more than three months, you will be obliged to report to the relevant cantonal district command within 14 days of your arrival for the purpose of carrying outmilitary service. If you come to Switzerland to study after you have turned 25, youwill be exempt frommilitary service due to your age. Hence, you will not have to complete basicmilitary training, but youwill have to paymil- itary service exemption tax. Some exceptions apply to dual nationals. If you hold dual nation- ality and have already carried out military service or civilian service in the other country of which you are a citizen, you no longer have to domilitary service in Switzerland. However, this does not release you from the obligation to provide notification of your arrival to the dis- trict command and pay the military service exemption tax. Only if you have done military service in Germany, France, Austria or Italy will you be exempt from paying the military service exemption tax, owing to agreements that Switzerland has concludedwith these coun- tries. Incidentally, Swiss Abroad can also volunteer to do basic mil- itary training in Switzerland. Requests in such cases should be addressed to: Kommando Ausbildung Personelles der Armee Steuerung und Vorgaben, Rodtmattstrasse 110 3003 Berne tel.: +41 58 464 20 63 fax: +41 58 464 32 70 email: personelles.persa@vtg.admin.ch website: www.vtg.admin.ch