MP Cédric Weissert (UDC) said it: his party released, on Tuesday at the Vaudois Grand Council, “a Black Friday proposal” as part of the debates on Vaudois taxes for 2025. We summarize: the Council of State wants to reduce cantonal taxes by 0.5%, after a reduction of 3.5% in 2024 and other additional tidbits already planned in 2026 and 2027 to achieve a total of 5%. Not enough for the UDC, which counterattacked. “The tax cuts voted in Geneva or the developments in Neuchâtel make our canton a dunce in terms of taxes,” said Cédric Weissert.
The UDC then proposed, for 2025, a reduction of 5.5% (instead of the 0.5% of the Council of State) and others over the following two years to arrive at 10% in total (instead of the 5% of the Council of State). No other party laughed at the mention of Black Friday. “It’s not a commercial matter, it’s politics and voters have the right to respect,” said Alexandre Berthoud (PLR), which dismayed his UDC colleague who retorted to the elected PLR that he had “perhaps not understood that it was a trace of humor”. The PLR sided with the Council of State’s proposal, estimating, via the vice-president of the cantonal PLR Florence Bettschart-Narbel, that “the UDC’s proposal is not serious, it is of the com”.
Only the UDC therefore wanted to significantly lower taxes and its proposal was sharply rejected in the vote. The PLR, the centrist elected officials and some of the socialists opted for the 0.5% solution, which passed the ramp during this first debate. The Greens and Ensemble à Gauche rejected any reduction in taxes by percentage. “Tax credits would be more effective,” judged Théophile Schenker (Green).
“It’s easy to cut taxes without ever saying where to cut. Because you’ll have to do it with a chainsaw. You never tell parents that their children will go to school in classes of 38 students, that you will eliminate nursery places or regional bus or train lines, that people will wait longer in emergency rooms, than our elders will end their lives abandoned in EMS without staff,” tackled Sébastien Cala (PS), addressing the right.
Elected officials will have to debate and vote on proposals again before Christmas, as will a modification to inheritance taxes. At the same time, they will work on the canton’s budget for next year.
Soon a popular vote
Many elected officials are tense because there is the specter of a popular initiative from economic circles which will soon be submitted to the people. This calls for a 12% reduction in cantonal taxes. This is more than what the people of Geneva just accepted in a vote on November 24. “However, it is not a very right-wing canton. When we talk about tax cuts, some left-wing voters also appreciate seeing their wallets lighten…,” quipped Cédric Weissert. Only one elected official spoke to welcome the future popular vote. “I really want the people to speak out. If the Vaudois population says yes, so much the better,” said Jérôme De Benedictis (Vert’liberaux).
