Switzerland votes 'yes' to being for corporate tax home for big business

International News

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Switzerland approved an overhaul of the corporate tax code, choosing to stay an attractive base for companies like Procter & Gamble, Vitol SA and Caterpillar even at the expense of a short-term drop in fiscal revenue.

The change was approved by 66 per cent of voters, according to a projection published by Swiss television SRF. A poll by gfs.bern had suggested it would pass.

The outcome, which ends years of wrangling and a failed attempt at an overhaul two years ago, ensures Switzerland remains a low tax domicile for companies and still is compliant with international rules. The new system will consist of deductions on profit from patents and R&D expenses, to make up for having to get rid of the breaks now accorded multinationals. That’s because they no longer are in line with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development rules.
A failure to pass the reform could have sparked an exodus of firms to low-tax locales like Ireland or Singapore because in Switzerland they would’ve been taxed at the same rate as local companies — which in Geneva is currently as high as 24.16 per cent.

Chart That could have been devastating for the economy. Multinationals generate about a quarter of employment and a third of gross domestic product, according to a study by McKinsey and industry group SwissHoldings. They also responsible for a big chunk of the federal government’s revenue from taxing firms’ profits.


 Cantons are also taking action on taxation. The cantons of Basel City, home to pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Roche, has lowered its levy on companies, as has the French-speaking canton of Vaud.

China urges US to not go too far in 'damaging moves' against our interests

International News

days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring American companies from installing the foreign-made telecom equipment posing a national security threat, a move apparently aimed at banning Huawei from US networks.

Beijing has warned of retaliation against the order that effectively barred Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the US market.

The world's top two economies are locked in a trade battle that has seen mounting tariffs, sparking fears that the conflict could damage the global economy.

Wang, noting that the US has recently made remarks and taken actions that are harmful to the Chinese interests in various fields including cracking down on Chinese enterprises' normal operations through political measures, said China strongly opposes such actions."We urge the US side not to go too far," he told Pompeo.

History and reality have shown that as two big countries, China and the US will both benefit from cooperation and lose from conflicts, Wang said, adding that cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries.

The two sides should follow the direction set by the two countries' heads of state, manage their differences on the basis of mutual respect, expand cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit, and work together in pushing forward a China-US relationship based on coordination, cooperation and stability, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying.


 China has always been willing to resolve economic and trade differences through negotiations and consultations, which, however, should be conducted on the basis of equality, he said, adding that China, in any negotiations, must safeguard its legitimate interests, answer the calls of its people, and defend the basic norms of international relations.

India's coal power plants unhealthiest, should be upgraded or shut: Study

Current Affairs:

China and the US may be the largest producers of coal power, but power plants in India take the highest toll in the world when it comes to health, a global study claims.
Coal-fired power plants produce more than just carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, said researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

Coal burning also releases particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury -- thus damaging the health of many people around the world, they said.
To estimate where action is most urgently required, the researchers modelled and calculated the undesired side effects of coal power for each of the 7,861 power plant units in the world.

The results, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, show that China and the US are the two largest producers of coal power, but power plants in India take the highest toll in the world when it comes to health.

Central Europe, North America and China all have modern power plants, but Eastern Europe, Russia and India still have many older power plants equipped with insufficient flue gas treatment, said Stefanie Hellweg from ETH Zurich's Institute of Environmental Engineering, who led the study.
As a result, these power plants only remove a fraction of the pollutants -- while also often burning coal of inferior quality.


 "More than half of the health effects can be traced back to just one-tenth of the power plants. These power plants should be upgraded or shut down as quickly as possible," said Christopher Oberschelp, the lead author of the study.