On 19 May 2019, Geneva voters decide on the cantonal law implementing the tax reform and AHV/AVS financing (RFFA). The framework is binding: under pressure from the OECD and the EU, Switzerland had to abolish the special tax statuses enjoyed by multinationals. Each canton must now set a new tax rate applying to all companies.
Geneva, a stronghold of international firms, has much at stake: a badly calibrated rate means tax flight. The cantonal government proposes a single profit-tax rate of 13.99 % — against around 24.2 % for ordinarily taxed companies until then — paired with social measures. The whole thing is the fruit of a tight compromise between the PLR (liberals) and the Socialist Party.
The debate pits two readings against each other: for some, an indispensable cut to preserve jobs and retain multinationals; for others, a tax gift to companies at the expense of public revenue. The question is who, five years later, was right.
▲ The ballot verdict The cantonal reform is accepted with 58.2 % yes. Geneva adopts a single profit-tax rate of 13.99 % for all companies. | ▼ The radical left defeated The no vote, led by Ensemble à Gauche and the unions, is in the minority (around 42 %). It denounced a tax gift and a risk of losses for public coffers. |
The two camps
▲ Yes camp • The cantonal government (Nathalie Fontanet, PLR), champion of the reform • The PLR and the PDC, plus employers (FER Genève, CCIG) • The Socialist Party, rallying « painfully » to the compromise; the Greens divided (abstention) | ▼ No camp • Ensemble à Gauche, frontally opposed to the reform • The unions (CGAS) and the Young Socialists • Part of the left denouncing a PLR-PS « dupes' bargain » |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Without a competitive rate, multinationals and their jobs leave Geneva. « An attractive rate is vital for prosperity and jobs in Geneva » (Yes camp argument, 2019). ✓ Confirmed. Geneva kept its multinationals after the reform. Far from collapsing, profit tax rebounded sharply: the 2022 accounts show a record surplus, including some 672 million from corporate taxation. Source: Léman Bleu / Radio Lac, 2022 accounts of the State of Geneva. The compromise funds significant social measures. « The reform comes with a social package (health-insurance subsidies) » (Socialist argument, 2019). ✓ Confirmed. The package included a counter-project to initiative IN170 and an increase in health-insurance subsidies (about 186 million). These social measures did indeed accompany the tax cut. Source: ge.ch; Tribune de Genève. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) It is a tax gift at the expense of public revenue. « A dupes' bargain that will drain the state coffers » (Ensemble à Gauche argument, 2019). ✗~ Partly disproved. The expected loss (estimated around 400 million) did not translate into a lasting hole: after a dip in 2020, revenue rebounded to a record surplus in 2022. The massive « budget hole » announced did not materialise. Recent accounts confirm high but volatile revenue: a surplus of CHF 541 million in 2024 despite corporate tax falling by 483 million after the 2022–2023 peaks, then a surplus of CHF 50 million in 2025 (the budget had forecast a 256 million deficit), with corporate tax down a further 232 million; 1% of companies provide 92% of profit tax. Source: Léman Bleu, 2022 accounts; Tribune de Genève. ; Canton of Geneva, 2024 and 2025 accounts (March 2025 and March 2026) The cut will mainly benefit big companies. « The large groups will be the first winners » (opponents' argument, 2019). ✗~ Partly disproved. Special-status multinationals in fact saw their burden rise (from about 9-11 % to 13.99 %), while ordinary SMEs, previously taxed at around 24.2 %, are the big winners of the cut to 13.99 %. Source: ge.ch, RFFA implementation; business press. |
The reckoning, five years on
Geneva's gamble looks largely won. The reform met its dual goal: abolishing multinationals' preferential regimes while keeping a competitive single rate. International firms stayed, and after a cyclical dip in 2020, tax revenue hit peaks that carried the cantonal accounts to a record surplus in 2022.
19.05.2019 Date of the vote | 58.2 % Yes (accepted) | 13.99 % Single tax rate | n/a Turnout |
Update 10/2026: added the 2024 and 2025 cantonal accounts (corporate tax revenue high but falling since 2023, heavily concentrated on 1% of companies).
Accepted by 58.2 %, Geneva's RFFA answers an external constraint: the abolition, under international pressure, of the tax statuses that made Geneva a haven for multinationals. The canton had to react fast or risk losing a large share of its tax base.
The chosen solution — a low single rate offset by a social package — is a very Genevan compromise between the PLR and a Socialist Party that joined « painfully ». The radical left sees a gift to business and goes to battle. It loses.
The facts largely vindicated the Yes camp. The multinationals stayed, and profit tax, far from collapsing, soared: a record surplus in 2022. The budget hole promised by opponents never opened.
One nuance both camps underestimated: it was the multinationals whose burden rose, and ordinary SMEs that gained most from the cut. The reform was less a « gift to the big » than a levelling-down of taxation.