Canton Zug's balance sheet closed with a profit of approximately 300 million in 2021

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The final balance sheet of Canton Zug ended in 2021 with a surplus of nearly CHF 300 million. Another confirmation of a very sound financial situation, as Heinz Tännler, director of cantonal finance, jubilantly pointed out when introducing the accounts. In a year of the pandemic, the surplus is astonishing. Efforts to combat the aftermath of the pandemic were indeed significant in the highly industrialized canton: "We have substantially helped more than 600 companies," said Tännler, "and by means of a temporary tax rate reduction and a grant to cultural and sports institutions we have been able to alleviate the negative budgetary consequences for the people of the canton. Specifically, as part of the austerity program, 115 million francs have been provided (largely non-repayable) while tenants have been able to reduce almost one-third of their rent charges under the tax declaration. The overall financial situation remains very positive. The 83 million francs of permissible net investments during 2021 were funded by the Canton from its equity. The self-financing ratio is 433.4%, which gives Zug a high degree of liquidity. At the end of the year, the equity capital was 1.6 billion. It is thanks to such a prosperous situation that the Canton can afford to continue offering extremely favourable taxation: in 2021, income tax in Zug was 22.4% (40% in Ticino). This situation also imposes significant burdens of solidarity on the financially weaker cantons. With its contribution of 332 million, it ranks second (after Zurich) of the paying cantons for fiscal equalization. Zug is an Eldorado, for sure. But it cannot be dismissed hastily as a mere tax haven, as is often done with envy for the whole of Switzerland.

Zug's Eldorado originates from afar. It comes from the geography, which places it just a stone's throw from the economic capital of the country, Zurich, whose economic impetus is being used to establish companies with high technological and industrial added value (of which Landis & Gyr is the emblem). Zug's strong entrepreneurial spirit also brings together the country's two great historical cultures: the Protestant culture of nearby Zurich and the Catholic culture that Zug shares with neighboring central Switzerland. Will Switzerland's Eldorado in Zug resist the open war against the Russian oligarchs and commodity traders that Switzerland joined after the invasion of Ukraine? The pressure is intense, particularly in Zug, home to numerous international companies and businesses. State Councillor Heinz Tännler - the son of a Landis & Gyr executive and a highly ambitious "golden boy" of cantonal politics who switched from the FDP to the SVP - is calm and speaks clearly (unlike other members of his party): "What is happening in Ukraine is nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe and the culprit has a name: Vladimir Putin. He must answer for his acts before an international tribunal". Ignazio Cassis is positive and affirms that "the way in which the Federal Council interprets neutrality in this situation is reasonable". On the application of sanctions, however, he requests that the cantons do not move in an arbitrary way, " not according to speculations, but in accordance with clear indications that the Confederation must provide". He adds that what Switzerland is doing ("after a hesitant beginning") with regard to confiscated goods "goes far beyond what is done for example in the Netherlands or France or Germany". Zug does not sanction Viktor Vekselberg? The government councillor replies that he does not appear on the EU sanctions list, a list that serves as a reference for Switzerland. "And therefore also for the Canton of Zug."