On 20 March 2016, Vaud voters approved, with 87.12% voting Yes (125,362 to 18,538), the cantonal component of the third corporate tax reform (RIE III), put to the people after a referendum launched by the radical left and the public services union (SSP). Turnout was 35.31%.
Designed by the governing tandem of Pascal Broulis (FDP/PLR, finance) and Pierre-Yves Maillard (SP, health and social affairs), the reform introduced from 2019 a single profit-tax rate of 13.79% (down from about 22%) for all companies, multinationals and SMEs alike, anticipating the internationally mandated abolition of special tax statuses. In exchange it included a social package: higher family allowances, expanded childcare, and health-insurance premiums capped at 10% of income through subsidies.
Ten years on, this review confronts the Yes camp's promises — preserving jobs and revenue, social compensation — and the No camp's fears — a tax giveaway and austerity — with the observed facts: actual tax receipts, implementation of the social measures, and the reform's turbulent federal afterlife.
Overall result Yes 87.12% — No 12.88%. Turnout 35.31%. Law approved; the new single rate of 13.79% took effect on 1 January 2019. | Vote map A plebiscite across the canton: every region approved the text by a wide margin — a landslide the press called historic. District details are not reproduced here. |
Actors and key figures
▲ Yes camp • Cantonal government in corpore (Pascal Broulis (FDP/PLR) and Pierre-Yves Maillard (SP), architects of the reform) • Vaud FDP, SP, SVP and CVP (an unusual alliance of governing right and left) • CVCI and business circles • Unions backing the compromise | ▼ No camp • POP and solidaritéS (launchers of the referendum) • Public services union (SSP) • Part of the union left |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Preserving jobs and the tax base « Without a competitive rate, multinationals will leave and SMEs will foot the bill for the end of special statuses. » — Vaud government, 2016 voting booklet ✓ Argument confirmed The bet paid off, according to the government's official assessment: the drop in profit-tax receipts estimated in the voting booklet has been fully offset since the reform took effect. Excluding exceptional items, revenue is back to around CHF 660 million — its 2016 level — despite a rate cut from 22% to 13.79%. The canton's fabric of international headquarters has held. Source: Canton of Vaud, RIE III assessment; Le Temps Tangible social compensation for the middle class « This reform is also a social package: family allowances, childcare and capped health premiums. » — Pierre-Yves Maillard (SP), 2016 campaign ✓ Argument confirmed The promised measures were delivered: higher family allowances, expanded childcare co-financed by employers and, from 2019, a subsidy capping health-insurance premiums at 10% of reference income. Nearly two-thirds of the reform's costs are borne by the private economy through additional levies. Source: vd.ch; info.vd.ch (TRAF) | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) A tax giveaway that will force austerity « Hundreds of millions handed to shareholders that will have to be clawed back from public services. » — Referendum committee (POP, solidaritéS, SSP), 2016 ✗~ Partially disproved The predicted austerity did not happen at cantonal level: profit-tax receipts returned to their pre-reform level. The dent was real, however, for the municipalities: after the 2017 federal rejection, some CHF 128 million in expected compensation went missing, leading the canton to an agreement paying CHF 50 million to municipalities from 2019. Source: Canton of Vaud; swissinfo.ch; 24 heures Shareholders will be the big winners « The rate cut will benefit capital first, not employees. » — Radical-left opponents, 2016 ✓~ Partially confirmed As early as 2018, the press noted that the prospect of the single rate was "already smiling on shareholders", with several Vaud companies raising dividend payouts. The argument needs qualifying, though: the social compensation — subsidies, allowances, childcare — did reach households, two-thirds financed by employers. Source: RTS; vd.ch |
Factual record
2 Confirmed | 1 Partially confirmed | 1 Partially disproved | 0 Disproved |
| ✓ | The Vaud tax bet paid off Rate cut to 13.79%, profit-tax receipts back to pre-reform levels (about CHF 660 million excluding exceptional items), corporate headquarters retained: the referendum camp's doomsday scenario did not materialise at cantonal level. |
| ✓ | The social package was delivered The 10%-of-income premium cap, higher family allowances and expanded childcare all took effect, mostly financed by the private economy — the core of the Broulis-Maillard compromise was honoured. |
| ~ | Municipalities took the hit The 2017 federal rejection of RIE III deprived canton and municipalities of some CHF 128 million in expected compensation. The 2018 agreement (CHF 50 million shared among municipalities) covered only part of the gap, feeding lasting financial tensions between canton and municipalities. |
The 2016 plebiscite — 87%, an exceedingly rare score for a tax bill contested by referendum — vindicated the Vaud method: a fiscal-social compromise negotiated between an FDP finance minister and an SP health minister. Ten years on, the facts confirm the essentials of both signatories' promises.
Profit-tax receipts returned to pre-reform levels despite a rate nearly halved, and the social compensation — from the premium cap to family allowances — was actually rolled out. On both counts, the No camp lost its bet.
Its intuition was not baseless on everything, though: shareholders quickly benefited from the cut, and the CHF 128 million hole left by the 2017 federal rejection weighed durably on municipalities, only partially relieved by the 2018 compensation deal.
The political paradox remains: Vaud voters massively approved in 2016 what the Swiss rejected in 2017 — before the 2019 TRAF reform retrospectively vindicated the Vaud timetable. The canton served as the Confederation's tax laboratory.