AHV: Council of States decides billions of deals

VAT up, wage contributions up: The Council of States not only regulates the financing of the 13th AHV pension, but also the lifting of the pension plan for married couples, as the middle demands. Cost: CHF 8 billion.

The joy day for the retired people in this country is approaching: in December 2026 you will receive the 13th AHV pension for the first time. It is still unclear how this AHV expansion should be financed. The parliament in Bern is looking for a solution. The Council of States now set a big hit on Thursday. The most important thing about the large AHV debate.

The decision

The 13th AHV pension costs CHF 4.2 billion in the first year. The Federal Council had therefore proposed to increase VAT from 8.1 to 8.8 percent. However, this proposal failed miserably in the small chamber. Except for a few scattered around the St.Gallen Mitte-Ständer Council Benedikt Würth, no one liked him. Most representatives from the FDP and SVP did not want to enter the template and only regulate the financing in the next, already listed reform AHV 2030. They also failed to increase VAT only with the attempt to only increase VAT for a limited period.

Instead, the Council of States decided to increase VAT and wage contributions. From 2028, VAT will increase by 0.5 percentage points in a first step, wage contributions by 0.4 percentage points. This brings the AHV about CHF 3.7 billion. However, the concept stipulates that the Federal Council receives competence to increase a further 0.5 percentage points as well as wage contributions by a further 0.4 percentage points if necessary.

This additional money, and that’s the highlight of the story, would need if the pension plan for married couples were lifted. It is an “expansion in stock”, as FDP Council of States complained Josef Dittli. His SVP council colleague Hannes Germann spoke of a « historical raid » to the wallet of the population.

The dream duo

This solution invented a duo of the SP and middle, namely union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard from Vaud and Erich Ettlin from Obwalden. They made this big throw and defended it with Verve. For the SP, the advantage is that not only the VAT is increased, but also the wage contributions. For the center, the attraction lies in the fact that their popular initiative would have been financed to abolish the marriage pair plan before the people would even vote on it. The abolition of the Plafond costs another CHF 4 billion.

Maillard praised the preparatory commission that she was up to the task. She brought order to the debate and bound a consensus. Because there are actually many construction sites in the AHV: the financing of the 13th AHV pension, the center initiative to abolish the pension plan fund, the reform of the widow’s pension and the AHV 2030 for sustainable securing the social work.

It takes an answer to the middle initiative, said Maillard, so that the population knows the price tag when she opens up. He even made a comparison to the creation of the AHV 80 years ago. It was a difficult time after the end of the Second World War. But the founders had dared something that they were up to date – like the preparatory commission.

And the center of the center of Ettlin, in turn, spoke of far-sighted financing, the opposite of a piece of work: « We have responsibility to look beyond the next hill. »

The deviators

SP and the Greens support the billion deal. There were also critical tones in the middle party. Benedikt Würth, for example, called the procedure “idiosyncratic” because the middle initiative to abolish the pension plan was neither advised by parliament nor accepted by the voting population. The only order of the current template is the financing of the 13th AHV pension. His party colleagues Beat Rieder and Fabio Regazzi also rejected the SP-Mitte deal.

However, there was also deviations in the case of freeness: the Pascal Broulis and Johanna Gapany stands in western Switzerland said about the deal. Broulis warned that the center initiative on the urn could get through if there is no counter-proposal. He called the proposal pragmatically and constructively and recalled that the population love AHV. Particularly bitter for the FDP: Without these deviators, the SP-Mitte-Deal would have failed.

The dissatisfied

In addition to the flaming supporters of the deal, there were also the doubting supporters. Peter Hegglin, the center of the center from Zug, belongs to this group. Even if he did not stand against his party’s deal, there was a quiet discomfort. Hegglin said: « We have to make sure that the second increase in VAT and pay deductions is not necessary. » He pleaded for a higher retirement age and recalled that he had already asked in 2016 to pair the retirement age to life expectancy.

His party colleague Pirmin Bischof used the debate to request the introduction of a working life. The cashier could continue to retire at the age of 65, but the lawyer would have to work longer. The center stands obviously wanted to state that they are also available for structural reforms-and not just for new funds.

The sequel

SP and the middle have an easy game in the Council of States. Together with the Greens, they have a majority. In the National Council, however, the deal will have a heavier stand. There the three parties only come to 95 votes. The Zünglein on the scale could play the GLP for once.

In the parliamentary group you don’t feel like the SP-Mitte deal. There is an idea for a counter-proposal to the center initiative. The Plafond is to be gradually dismantled: If a privilege for the couples, such as the contribution privilege or the widow’s estimation, the Plafond should be increased. If all privileges have been abolished, the Plafond could be deleted completely. Then one would be in civil status -independent pensions. The FDP also wants that, but immediately.

The National Council Commission meets in early July. It will be an important session for the future of the AHV.