VPOD-SSP against the increase in VAT for the 13th AVS pension payment (cross-border guide)

Context

In brief

• VPOD-SSP rejects financing through a VAT increase
• The popular vote is scheduled for 29 novembre
• The AVS has profits of over 10 billion in two years
• The increase would cost 180 francs per family

Key facts

• Who: VPOD-SSP
• What: financing the 13th AVS pension through a VAT increase
• When: popular vote on 29 novembre
• Where: delegates' assembly meeting in Zurich
• Decision: 22 votes to 6
• AVS profits: 5,6 billion in 2024 and 4,4 billion in 2025
• Assets: 60,4 billion, equal to 113% of annual expenditure
• Average cost: 180 francs more per year per family

On 26 settembre 2026, in Zurich, VPOD-SSP decided to recommend rejecting the financing of the 13th AVS pension through a VAT increase, which will be put to a popular vote on 29 novembre. The decision was taken by the delegates' assembly by 22 votes to 6, as reported in a statement issued today.

The trade union considers additional short-term financing unjustified. The reason given is the state of the AVS's finances, which VPOD-SSP describes as very solid. The organization therefore maintains that there is no sufficient reason to resort immediately to an increase in value-added tax.

The figures cited by the trade union

In 2024, the AVS is said to have recorded profits of 5,6 billion francs, while profits in 2025 are said to have amounted to 4,4 billion. VPOD-SSP thus speaks of over 10 billion in two years. It adds a record asset base of 60,4 billion, equal to 113% of annual expenditure.

The trade union compares these amounts with the revenue expected from the VAT increase: 1,5 billion francs per year for six years. In its assessment, the profits accumulated over two years would exceed what the tax increase would yield during the period indicated.

The other criticism concerns the nature of VAT, which VPOD-SSP calls an antisocial and regressive tax. The increase would be the second in four years and would cost an average of 180 francs more per year per family. The trade union also argues that the measure would fuel inflation, add to increases in health-insurance premiums, and reduce purchasing power.

Finally, VPOD-SSP invokes the consistency of the trade-union position. During the campaign for the 13th AVS pension, it had been asserted that additional financing would not be necessary; for the long term, by contrast, an increase in wage contributions rather than in VAT had been advocated. For the trade union, raising the tax would represent a victory for employers.

Operational details

For a cross-border worker following the news from Canton Ticino, the first practical point coincides with the source's limitation: the text discusses the financing of the 13th AVS pension and the effect attributed to VAT, but does not address the G permit, withholding tax, LPP, LAMal, rebates, INPS, double taxation, Brogeda or the new 2026 tax agreement. This news therefore cannot be used to derive a new tax or social-security procedure for those crossing the border.

The figure of 180 francs is presented as an annual average per family. It is not an individual deduction, it is not an amount relating to a payslip, and the source does not specifically attribute it to cross-border workers. A worker therefore cannot automatically turn that figure into a change in their monthly net pay. The point made by VPOD-SSP is the general effect on purchasing power, together with inflation and increases in health-insurance premiums.

The comparison that remains open

If the proposal were not approved, the source does not describe what financing would take its place immediately. It only indicates the union's preference for an increase in wage contributions in the long term. If the financing were approved, the text speaks of an increase in VAT, but specifies neither the rate nor the application date.

This distinction also helps to read the debate correctly from the perspective of a cross-border worker: the source does not announce changes to the G permit, LPP or LAMal and does not link the vote to rebates, INPS, double taxation, Brogeda or the new 2026 tax agreement. To assess the impact indicated by the union on the family budget, the news can be considered alongside costo della vita Ticino vs Italia, without turning the average of 180 francs into a personal calculation not provided by the source.

Useful planning tools

To estimate your pension strategy, use the pension planner and the pillar 3 simulator.

Key points

The safest way to approach the consultation, while staying within the available data, is a reading checklist. The source does not indicate documents to present, polling places or administrative procedures: it therefore makes it possible to organize the information, but not to reconstruct an official procedure.

Checklist before 29 November

1. Mark the date of the popular vote: 29 November. The subject is the financing of the 13th AHV pension through an increase in VAT.

2. Distinguish the recommendation from the outcome. VPOD-SSP calls for rejecting the financing, but the source does not report the result of the vote. The decision already documented is that of the delegates' assembly held in Zurich, approved by 22 votes to 6.

3. Keep the figures separate. In your notes you can report AHV surpluses of 5,6 billion in 2024 and 4,4 billion in 2025, assets of 60,4 billion equal to 113% of annual expenditure, the stated return of 1,5 billion per year for six years and the estimate of 180 francs per family.

4. Do not confuse the family average with your personal position. The text does not provide a figure for an individual cross-border worker, does not indicate a change in withholding tax and does not describe effects on a G permit, LPP, LAMal, rebates, INPS or double taxation.

5. Compare the two approaches expressed in the source: on the one hand, financing through VAT, criticized as a short-term measure; on the other, an increase in wage contributions, indicated by VPOD-SSP as a long-term solution.

To keep this discussion separate from your individual pension position, you can consult guide pensione AVS/LPP. For the administrative aspects of cross-border work, comparison Permesso G/B remains available, while the news item examined introduces no changes to these tools. Finally, to check your payslip situation, use calcolatore fiscale.

Source: tio.ch