Politics · Switzerland · 9 hrs ago
Economist Gabriel Zucman calls for a 2% tax on billionaires
Economist Gabriel Zucman wants a 2% tax on billionaires to be based on their wealth, including in Switzerland.
He says very rich people can have little reported income by keeping company profits invested rather than paying themselves or selling shares.
Switzerland taxes wealth through its cantons, but Zucman says the rates are too low; researchers at the University of Lausanne estimate an average rate of 0.3%.
A representative of the Avenir Suisse think tank says Swiss wealth taxes already bring in nearly 10 billion francs a year, while billionaire Karin Stüber says a 2% tax would be too high.
Zucman says Norway’s tax revenue rose 72% after the country increased its wealth tax in 2022, despite predictions that many wealthy people would leave.
He also proposes that countries keep taxing the super-rich for five to ten years after they leave, as a way to limit the effect of people moving abroad.
Economist Gabriel Zucman is calling for a 2% minimum tax on billionaires’ wealth, including in Switzerland.
He argues that billionaires can report little income and therefore pay less tax relative to their means than other people.
Zucman says the Swiss wealth tax rate is too low and proposes a federal wealth tax.
Avenir Suisse’s Michele Salvi says Switzerland is the wrong country to discuss such a tax because it already raises nearly 10 billion francs a year from wealth taxes.
Swiss billionaire Karin Stüber says a 2% tax is too high and could force her company to distribute profits instead of investing them.
- Who
- Gabriel Zucman, an economist and professor at the Paris School of Economics and in Berkeley, is proposing the tax.
- What
- He calls for a 2% minimum tax on billionaires’ wealth.
- When
- The article was published on 23 October 2026.
- Where
- Zucman says the proposal should apply in Switzerland as well.
- Why
- He says billionaires can report little income and pay less tax relative to their means than other people.
Gabriel Zucman
Michele Salvi and Karin Stüber
Tax level
Gabriel Zucman
Zucman says a 2% wealth tax is needed.
Michele Salvi and Karin Stüber
Salvi says Switzerland already raises nearly 10 billion francs a year from wealth taxes; Stüber says 2% is too high.
Impact
Gabriel Zucman
Zucman argues that wealth should be taxed because billionaires can report little income.
Michele Salvi and Karin Stüber
Stüber says she could not pay the tax from her income without her company distributing most of its profits instead of investing them.
Norway increased its wealth tax, and tax revenue rose by 72 percent, according to the article.
SRF published its report on Zucman’s call for a 2% tax on billionaires.
- Proposed rate
- 2% of billionaires’ wealth
- Swiss average wealth tax
- 0.3%, according to researchers at the University of Lausanne
- Swiss wealth-tax revenue
- Nearly 10 billion francs a year, according to Michele Salvi
- Norway revenue change
- Up 72% after the wealth tax increase in 2022
What people are saying
The solution is a minimum tax for billionaires, measured against their wealth.
Switzerland is the wrong country to discuss such a tax.
Then my company would have to distribute most of its profits instead of investing them.