Swiss Parliament Approves Central Credit and Crypto Standard

Context

In brief

• 131.3 million francs for reserve power plants
• 126 votes to 61 on crypto-assets
• Hotel VAT at 3.8%: proposal until 2031
• Roberta Soldati joins the National Council

Key facts

• Location → Berne
• Credit for the plants → 131.3 million francs
• Transitional plant → Monthey (VS) until 2030
• Crypto-assets → 126 votes to 61
• Hotel VAT proposal → 3.8% until 31 December 2031
• New councillor → Roberta Soldati (UDC/TI)
• Ecological compensation → motion by Katja Riem (UDC/BE)
• Stray currents → two motions, by Jacques Nicolet and Pierre-André Page

131.3 million francs for future reserve power plants were approved by the National Council in Berne by 118 votes to 74. The matter now goes to the Council of States.

Of the credit, 100 million are intended for planning and preparatory activities for the reserve power plants; the remaining 31.3 million will finance the Monthey (VS) plant, a transitional solution until 2030.

Plants, crypto-assets and VAT

By 126 votes to 61, the National Council approved a federal decree extending to crypto-assets the review mechanism for implementation in compliance with the standards for the automatic exchange of information. The matter has been definitively adopted. dichiarazione delle imposte is a separate track: the source does not indicate personal documents or deadlines.

For the hotel sector, by 101 votes to 86, with 7 abstentions, the National Council decided on second reading to consider the Federal Council's bill concerning the special rate of 3.8%. It approved the commission's subsidiary proposal to extend it until 31 December 2031; the matter returns to the Council of States.

Agriculture and agenda

The motion by Katja Riem (UDC/BE) on ecological compensation was approved. It calls for the legal bases and directives to be revised in order to better reconcile nature protection and biodiversity with the sustainable maintenance of agricultural production potential. The Council of States must still express its view.

Two motions by Jacques Nicolet (UDC/VD) and Pierre-André Page (UDC/FR) were also approved. They call on the Federal Council to adapt the provisions of the Ordinance on Low-Voltage Electrical Installations, taking animals' electrosensitivity into account in the mandatory inspections of a farm's electrical installations, and to promote the training of specialists on stray currents and measures to protect livestock.

The session opened with a tribute to the victims of the Zug attack 25 years ago and addressed Question Time. Roberta Soldati (UDC/TI) took the oath as a national councillor, succeeding Piero Marchesi, who is about to take up the office of State Councillor. Tomorrow, Tuesday 29 September, from 08.00 to 13.00, the agenda includes the Federal Act on Health Insurance for Detained Persons and the Health Insurance Supervision Act.

Operational details

The practical point of the session is to distinguish the approval by the National Council from the overall status of each dossier. The report identifies only one text as definitively adopted, the federal decree on crypto-assets. For the credit for the power plants, the extension of the hotel rate, and the agricultural motions, the next step remains with the Council of States, or their position has yet to be submitted.

A map of the outcomes

The table avoids a frequent overlap: an affirmative vote by the National Council does not produce the same outcome for all issues. For those following Parliament, the next question is not only what has passed, but whether the dossier is closed or whether a step involving the Council of States remains.

Two concrete readings

On the energy front, the credit is divided between planning and preliminary activities, on the one hand, and the Monthey reserve power plant as a transitional solution until 2030, on the other. This makes it possible to consider separately the preparation of future power plants and the financing of the solution indicated for Monthey. The source does not report electricity rates, costs for households, or effects on bills: the practical data available is therefore the structure of the credit, not an already quantified change for those who consume energy. To follow the broader economic picture, this report can be viewed alongside costo della vita in Svizzera, without confusing the two levels.

For hotels, the 3.8% rate until 31 December 2031 is linked to the subsidiary proposal approved on second reading and the subsequent passage to the Council of States. It is not presented as a definitively adopted dossier. The same criterion applies to agriculture: the motion on ecological compensation and the two motions on stray currents indicate specific requests, but the source does not yet announce legal bases or amended OIBT regulations. In the case of crypto-assets, by contrast, the text indicates definitive adoption, but does not describe individual forms, amounts, or deadlines.

Recommended tools

For an updated estimate, use the net salary calculator and the CHF-EUR exchange comparator.

Key points

The reader can transform the report into a parliamentary monitoring sheet. The source already offers the essential fields: body that voted, outcome, amount or content and next step. The operational sequence could be this:

Five checks

1. Separate closed files from open ones. Registers the federal decree on crypto-assets as finally adopted. Instead, keep among the dossiers to follow those that go to the States or on which the States have yet to express their opinion.

2. For the hotel sector, note together the three elements that the session linked: special rate of 3.8%, proposed extension until 31 December 2031 and return of the dossier to the States. The correct step is to follow the process, without transforming the proposal into an already concluded outcome.

3. For the reserve power plants, it preserves the credit division: 100 million for planning and preliminary activities, 31.3 million for Monthey, a transitional solution until 2030. When the next parliamentary outcome arrives, check which of the two components is treated.

4. For agriculture, link each request to its subject. Katja Riem's ​​motion concerns ecological compensation; those of Jacques Nicolet and Pierre-André Page ask for adjustments to the OIBT, attention to the electrosensitivity of animals and training to detect stray currents. In both cases, await the position of the states.

5. Mark the agenda for Tuesday 29 September, from 08.00 to 13.00. It includes the entry into the matter on the Federal Act on Health Insurance for Prisoners and the Act on Health Insurance Supervision, with the topic of maximum salaries of the management bodies of insurers in social health insurance.

This method avoids attributing effects to the session that the report does not describe: no individual forms, payments or deadlines are indicated for citizens, farms, hotels or crypto-asset operators. However, the parliamentary steps and the two time horizons mentioned are explicit, 2030 for Monthey and 31 December 2031 for the VAT proposal. To organize your financial and tax assessment, use the salary/tax calculator.

Source: tio.ch