MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Voters in Switzerland rejected the initiatives replacing value-added taxes (VAT) with energy consumption levies and eliminating taxes on child education benefits in a referendum on Sunday.
The proposal to make child education benefits tax deductible was struck down by a vote of 502,546 to 186,195 (73 to 27 percent).
Meanwhile, voters were more resolute in their support for the VAT instead of an energy consumption tax, which was outpolled by a vote of 640,786 to 47,547 (93.1 to 6.9 percent).
According to the swissinfo.ch portal, three weeks before the public ballot, 50 percent of the voters were against the proposed initiative.
Sunday's referendum was the first in a series of up to three nationwide votes in 2015 on a broad range of issues concerning communities across Switzerland.
In 2014, the Swiss public voted in 12 referendums on a range of issues, including adopting primary health care, banning convicted pedophiles from working with children and anti-immigration regulations.
One of the most notable public ballots of 2014 was held on the issue of boosting the country's gold holdings on November 30, with nearly 80 percent of the population rejecting the initiative.
