To be able to defend the country in case of an invasion, Swiss military needs more ammunition and equipment (other than army knife), costing about 4 billion francs.

The parliament is currently debating where this money should come from, and deputies from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) came up with a potential revenue source.

They are calling for foreign men who live in Switzerland to pay a so-called “security tax,” to be used for the needs of the army.

It can be likened to the military exemption tax levied on Swiss nationals who are deemed unfit for service.

In 2023, 196,800 Swiss men paid an average 863 francs per person as part of the exemption fee.  

With the introduction of the “security tax,” that number would increase to 389,000 people, who would contribute hundreds of millions of francs to the army’s coffers.

‘Worth examining’

The SVP is not the only party supporting this move.

MPs from the Liberal-Radical (FDP) and Centre parties also agree with this proposal, especially as “there are many foreigners who grow up in Switzerland and postpone their naturalisation so that they don’t have to do military service,” said FDP deputy Heinz Theiler.  “But our security is not free.”

“It is an idea worth examining,” added another FDP legislator,  Martin Candinas.

However, not everyone is in favour of this move.

“I understand that the army is trying to get more resources,” said Priska Seiler-Graf from the Social Democratic Party, who presides the National Council’s Security Policy Commission.

“But is it really realistic to assume that Russians will end up on the banks of the Rhine with their tanks, when they would have to first cross the solid NATO barrier?”

How likely is this ‘security tax’ for foreigners to be implemented?

The SVP’s proposal is not a new one: the party had already submitted a parliamentary initiative to this effect more than a decade ago, which the National Council turned down in June 2011.

A key argument against it was that ensuring the public’s security is government’s responsibility, which is financed through taxes, and therefore foreign residents already contribute to the costs of the army.

And even if the SVP wins a majority in parliament for its cause, the road towards implementation would be a long one.

A referendum would have to be held, as the constitution stipulates that only Swiss citizens who do not perform military service should be taxed.

And that brings us to a related issue:

Switzerland’s Federal Court has recently decided that men who were naturalised in Switzerland  in their 30s — that is, too late to actually serve in the military — will have to pay the military exemption tax.

This obligation puts them on equal footing with other Swiss men who are exempted from the required military or civil service, which usually begins at the age of 18, because they are deemed unfit for service.

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