Swiss oppose VAT increase to fund army, says poll

In a poll, the Swiss people have come out against an increase in value-added tax (VAT) in favour of the army or the 13th month of old-age pension (AHV/AVS). These are the findings of a poll conducted on behalf of the newspaper Blick. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox More than three quarters of the 15,000 or so people surveyed in German- and French-speaking Switzerland were against a temporary 0.8 percentage point increase in value added tax (VAT) to provide more funds for the army, as shown in a graph published on Tuesday by the German-language version of blick.ch. An increase in VAT is also being considered to finance the 13th monthly AHV/AVS pension. Respondents were opposed to this measure. Two-thirds of those questioned clearly or somewhat rejected an increase of 0.7 percentage points, as the graph shows. Some 21% of those questioned were "somewhat in favour" and 13% "clearly in favour". According to Blick, the Sotomo research institute conducted the ...