Swiss voters reject inheritance tax that would have funded climate efforts

Voters in Switzerland, which is packed with billionaire collectors whose fortunes shape the global art market, rejected a referendum Sunday that would have added an inheritance tax to increase funding for climate change initiatives.

Election results published by the Swiss government show that, of the nearly 2.4 million people who voted in the referendum, only 520,115 — just under 22% — supported the inheritance tax. Turnout for the referendum was about 43% of the voting public.

Switzerland’s government noted that its electorate has approved of the country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Currently, the government annually allocates about $2.5 billion for climate-related measures, primarily raised through consumption-based taxes on fossil fuels.

The referendum would have added a federal tax of 50% on estates and gifts, with the first $62 million exempt. The tax revenue would then have been required to be used “to combat the climate crisis in a socially just manner and to restructure the economy as a whole as necessary to achieve this goal,” according to the text of the initiative.

But the tax could have proven logistically difficult as the ultra-rich often have their wealth distributed in various companies and assets. Swiss billionaires and financial analysts told news media ahead of the vote that the tax could have driven the rich from the country.

ARTnews reported that more than a dozen people listed on its Top 200 Collectors have homes in Switzerland, which has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires globally.

Geneva hosts one of the world’s most established freeports, which are privately operated storage complexes that allow collectors to hold assets like blue-chip art and jewelry under bonded warehousing rules with limited customs exposure.

“Geneva, a cosmopolitan city and a hub for economic and cultural exchange, is renowned for its art trade, but also as the world capital of jewelry auctions,” the company’s website reads. “The Geneva Free Ports and Warehouses are today a major player in the Geneva economy with an international reputation.”

Coupled with Switzerland’s role as a hub for major market players, from Art Basel’s flagship fair to global galleries like Hauser & Wirth growing out of Zurich, the country has become a favored place for wealthy collectors to live, or least store their art-derived wealth.