Geneva state accounts for 2021 in positive territory thanks to record high tax revenues
The canton of Geneva closed the 2021 financial year with a revenue surplus of 49 million francs. This “unexpectedly good result” was achieved thanks to extraordinary additional tax revenue of almost one billion francs, as the Geneva State Council announced on Thursday.
the essentials in brief
- The canton of Geneva had budgeted a deficit of CHF 847 million.
The record-high additional income of CHF 999 million compared to the budget stems in particular from taxes from legal entities. The most important sectors of the Geneva economy, namely international trade, finance and the watchmaking industry, experienced a significant boom.
The treasury also benefited from numerous real estate transactions in 2021. In addition, the profit distribution from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) brought in CHF 117 million more than expected. In contrast, the tax revenue from natural persons is CHF 58 million lower than budgeted.
Incidentally, 2021 was again marked by the coronavirus crisis. CHF 346 million of these expenses are spent in the form of financial support for the economy, culture, hospitals and public transport.
As far as the future is concerned, the Geneva government is cautious, above all because of the war in Ukraine. You also remember that the catering, events and tourism sectors have suffered greatly from the coronavirus crisis.
“The need for social assistance has increased during the pandemic and everything indicates that this situation could continue,” states the cantonal government. In addition, there is still nothing to suggest that the extraordinary tax revenues of 2021 could be repeated.
The canton’s debt fell to CHF 12.4 billion. This is a slight improvement. Despite this, the debts in the canton of Geneva remain the highest in Switzerland. In 2020, the canton of Geneva reported a deficit of CHF 498 million.
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