Motor vehicle taxes: This is how the tariffs are created

The basis for calculating the annual traffic tax is a cantonal matter. Depending on the canton, vehicle owners pay up to six times more for the same car.

This is shown by an analysis of the online comparison service Comparis. The traffic taxes in the 26 cantons were compared on the basis of six example vehicles.

Varying ratings depending on the canton

Leo Hug, fee expert at Comparis: "With the road traffic tax, federalism is celebrating a riot. The cantons can set it at will and spend the revenue just as arbitrarily. The differences in rates for high-end models are particularly extreme."

For an Audi Q7 55 TFSI Quattro, for example, the cost in the canton of Geneva is 2130 francs. Schaffhausen, the most favorable canton, taxes the vehicle at 384 francs.

Bonus for the promotion of low-emission vehicles
The promotion of low-emission vehicles is another area of excesses that is difficult to understand. A large number of cantons provide a bonus of 25 to 75 percent for e-cars and for passenger cars with low CO2 emissions.

Some, however, do not know any eco-bonus. In the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the tax for the VW ID.3 is even 684 francs, while the Golf 1.5 TSI costs only 538 francs. The rate for the e-car is thus 27 percent higher.

Transport taxes often a steering instrument

Leo Hug: "In many cantons, transport taxes are primarily used to finance roads. However, they are also a popular political steering instrument. The canton of Geneva makes the most extensive use of this. Owners of an Audi Q7 55 TFSI Quattro pay a tax ten times higher than that of a Renault Twingo TCe 95."

comparis.ch