Swiss trade association has warned the Swiss Government against a rise in the mineral oil surtax imposed on motor fuels.

The Swiss Federal Council has previously indicated that raising the levy is one of the options available to place the financing of the national road transport network on a sustainable long-term footing by 2017. Under the plans, the surtax might rise from 30 cents a liter currently (unchanged since 1974) to as much as 45 cents a liter.

The Swiss trade association has suggested that revenues from taxes on motorists should flow exclusively to road network projects rather than being diverted to other types of project.  Governments are generally reluctant to earmark tax revenue to particular objectives in this way, preferring to pool tax revenue and allocate it according to its agreed spending plans.

The Federal Roads Office has previously confirmed that revenue from the mineral oil surtax, the motorway vignette, the tax levied on automobile vehicles, the envisaged new lump sum tax on alternative propulsion vehicles (such as electric cars), as well as carbon dioxide penalty taxes will flow directly to the fund from 2017.