According to FTA estimates based on newly available data, the inequality of taxable assets in Switzerland remained largely unchanged in the Covid-19 year 2020. This marks the end of a long-term trend for the time being. Since the end of the financial crisis, the proportion of assets held by the top one percent of taxpayers has risen continuously.
Fears that taxpayers at the lower end of the distribution would have to use up assets due to being more severely affected by income losses and that taxpayers at the upper end of the distribution would build up exceptionally large additional savings due to limited consumption options do not appear to be confirmed for the time being. Switzerland has an uneven distribution of taxable wealth.
According to estimates by the FTA, the top one percent of persons with unlimited tax liability in Switzerland held around 44.8% of total net assets in 2020, with the top 10% holding 77.8%. Wealth inequality is particularly pronounced in the cantons of Central Switzerland.
The report is available here.
