The Swiss Social Democratic Party, one of the four parties in the coalition government, is pushing for the ending of tax breaks for wealthy ...

The Swiss Social Democratic Party, one of the four parties in the coalition government, is pushing for the ending of tax breaks for wealthy foreigners in Switzerland, according to reports in the Swiss press. The party is keen to get support for the move from other European centre-left parties and has taken its fight to Brussels. It hopes to coordinate a European-wide campaign against what the party calls "increasing competition" among countries seeking to attract the rich and famous. The Social Democrats estimate that around 3,000 wealthy foreigners are currently benefiting from fiscal incentives. The number is expected to rise following the ratification of an accord between Bern and Brussels on the free movement of people. Senior Social Democrat party official Matthias Manz told Swissinfo that he would use the Brussels meeting to galvanize support to eradicate special tax breaks for the wealthy. "The problem is... that exaggerated tax competition is a danger for healthy public finances," said Mr Manz. He added: "We see this going on both within Switzerland between the cantons as well as between European countries, and we want to focus attention on this problem. Our aim is to discuss this issue, see whether other [centre-left] parties share our concerns and come up with a common position which could be implemented within the European Union and Switzerland."