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Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider opened the campaign on Monday for the additional funding of the AHV, as Tages-Anzeiger, NZZ and SRF report in agreement. It is about money for a pension that the people have already approved: the 13th AHV pension will be paid out for the first time in December 2026. What is open is who pays for it. Parliament cut back the Federal Council’s proposal. The standard rate of value-added tax is to rise from 8.1 to 8.5 percent, and the special rate for accommodation from 3.8 to 4.0 percent. The reduced rate for food, medicines and other everyday goods stays unchanged. According to the federal government, the 13th pension costs about CHF 4.2 billion a year. The higher value-added tax would bring in about CHF 1.4 billion of that. The Federal Council originally wanted to finance the whole pension; with Parliament’s compromise only about half is covered, as SRF and watson write. When the higher rate would take effect is given differently in the reports, 2028 or 2029; we leave that open until the text of the proposal is available. Because the value-added tax rates are set out in the Federal Constitution, the proposal needs a double majority on November 29: a majority of voters and a majority of the cantons. That makes the arithmetic harder for both camps. The people accepted the 13th pension itself. Whether they will also accept its financing is another question: receiving more money is more popular than paying more tax.

Baume-Schneider argues with the federal government’s figures. Without a Yes, the AHV’s annual deficits would rise to almost CHF 5 billion by 2035. With the increase, the deficit in 2035 would still be around CHF 3 billion. The minister calls the compromise “moderate and socially acceptable.” The Tages-Anzeiger describes the proposal as contested. The FDP rejects it and demands austerity; the party argues that the increase burdens households and small businesses. For opponents, the vote is also a signal for the major AHV reform that the Federal Council is preparing for the period up to 2040. The basic problem remains: the baby-boom generations are retiring, and revenue is growing more slowly than spending. A value-added tax hits everyone, including pensioners themselves. Payroll contributions would hit only the working population and their employers. That is the core of the dispute, and it will be fought until the end of November. Supporters point out that the increase closes only part of the gap and is therefore measured. Opponents counter that a half-financed expansion has already built in the pressure for the next increase. Both sides rely on the same federal figures; they simply draw opposite conclusions from them. Added to this is a political calendar that leaves little calm: at the end of the year the Federal Council loses a member in Guy Parmelin, and the election of his successor falls in the same weeks as the campaign.