Swiss citizens will head to the polls on March 8th 2026 to vote on four national measures: initiatives on cash, public broadcasting, and a climate fund, as well as a referendum on individual taxation, reported the government this week.
Cutting the bill for public broadcasting
The “200 francs is enough” initiative, backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts and the Young Liberals, seeks to cap the annual licence fee for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SSR) at CHF 200, and to exempt all companies from the levy.
Parliament rejected the proposal, but the federal government has already moved to reduce the burden by ordinance: the household fee is to fall to CHF 312 in 2027 and to CHF 300 in 2029. The turnover threshold for corporate exemption will also rise from CHF 500,000 to 1.2 million.
Individual taxation
Voters will also decide on the government’s plan to introduce individual taxation, aimed at ending the so-called marriage penalty. Under the current system, married couples often pay more federal tax than unmarried partners with the same combined income.
The reform, adopted by parliament in June 2025 as an indirect counterproposal to a Liberal Women’s Party initiative, would require married couples to file separate tax returns. A coalition of left-wing parties, the Liberals (PLR/FDP) and the Green Liberals backed the plan, arguing it promotes fiscal fairness and gender equality.
The Centre and the UDC/SVP opposed it, claiming it penalises traditional single-income families, and successfully forced a referendum—joined by a rare cantonal referendum supported by at least eight cantons.
A climate fund
A third proposal, championed by the Socialist and Green parties, would create a federal climate fund financed by annual payments worth 0.5–1% of GDP until 2050—some CHF 3.9 to 7.8 billion a year. The fund would support solar installations, building renovations and public transport. Parliament rejected the plan without offering a counterproposal, calling it too costly and rigid.
Keeping cash
The fourth initiative, titled “Cash is freedom”, was launched by the Swiss Liberty Movement. It seeks to enshrine cash in the constitution, guaranteeing that coins and banknotes remain in circulation and that any replacement of the Swiss franc by another currency would require approval in a national referendum.
The government has drafted a direct counterproposal, which would constitutionally guarantee the supply of cash and the franc’s status as Switzerland’s national currency. Voters will be asked to decide on both texts and, if both pass, to indicate which they prefer—a mechanism used at the federal level for the first time since 2010.
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