At its meeting on 12 August 2020, the Federal Council decided that all civil defence days worked should be credited towards the reduction of the substitute levy. The amended ordinance on the military service exemption tax will come into force on 1 January 2021.

Protective service days (recruitment and basic course service days) performed before the commencement of the obligation to pay compensation will be credited anew in the reduction of the replacement fee. If a civil protection worker performs more than 25 days of protective service in one year, they are carried over to the following year. In order to provide an incentive for the management career, senior non-commissioned officers and civil defence officers may now be granted a pro-rata refund of all replacement fees, provided they perform days of protective service after the eleven-year period of compulsory replacement. This regulation also applies to persons whose period of service has been extended in accordance with Art. 99 para. 3 of the totally revised Civil Protection Act (BZG). According to this provision, the cantons may provide for an extension of the normal period of service in the event of an impending shortfall due to the reduction in the period of compulsory service from 20 to 12 years for a maximum of 5 years after the entry into force of the BZG.

In addition, the Federal Council is deleting implementing provisions on the passport and writing ban that contradict the UN Covenant II. In addition, the amendment to the ordinance repeals certain provisions whose content has been newly regulated at the legislative level since 1 January 2019.

The amendments will come into force on 1 January 2021, at the same time as the amended BZG. The amendments correspond to the demands of the transferred motion Müller Walter (14.3590) "Entitlement to reduction of the military service exemption tax for members of the civil defence for the entire service period".

The amended Ordinance on the Conscription Compulsory Substitute Levy (WPEV) and the explanations on the amendment of the Ordinance on the Conscription Compulsory Substitute Levy (WPEV) can be found in the following list:

The Federal Council's media release and all documents are available here.

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