If you live in FR you will pay zero and be taxed in France. But you need a certificate to persuade the Swiss that the French authorities know about your swiss job (otherwise, you may avoid taxes altogether)
It might be worth considering social security contributions as well as income tax - these can vary quite a lot between France and Switzerland from what I have heard.
And your local town's taxe d'habitation probably applies if you live in France, but not in Switzerland (where it is included in income tax).
If you work in Geneva and live in France you will be taxed* at source in Geneva, there as special arrangements between the canton of Geneva and France to cover this. The Genevois government then hands over a percentage of your income tax every year to the french department you're living in. You will also need to fill in french and swiss tax forms every year.
Geneva is exceptional in this, as I understand all the other cantons allow you to be taxed in France if you live there.
*The rate of income tax will vary, it depends on your salary, family circumstances, etc.
Are you sure about this? I currently live in France and work in Geneva and am taxed at source. Does this mean the situation between Vaud and Geneva regarding the possibility to be taxed at source is different?
Thanks for your reply. This would be a desaster for me as tax rates will be signficantly higher in our case if taxed in France by moving work from Geneva to Vaud.
Does anybody know how feasible it is from a Swiss and French authorities point of you if I become a Swiss tax resident in Vaud and rent a small place there (paying all bills, car registration etc) ... but actually spend most of my time living in France where I own a house with my girlfriend and children? (Maybe not being married could come in handy here?)
And not those in Neuchatel Canton either (7% of taxes paid in France come back to the NE Commune were frontaliers work).
Do be careful re un-employment benefits should you be unlucky to lose your job if you live in France and work in Geneva, as conditions are very different.
As I understand it, many Swiss do this, married or not. They keep all their Swissness, but have a cheap house in France. For a childless couple, I think this is low risk. However, it seems to me that with kids in the equation, it gets much more complicated, as they have to go to school. So your partner and the kids would have to be French residents, right? So she has to fill in a tax form. Which is tough if she has no visible means of support.
Maybe someone else will explain a great trick to make this work, but I can't see it.
My parents bought a house in France and I went to school there. I do not recall anyone, at any point, EVER asking for a residency permit (and in fact I did not have one, although nowadays it's not required for Swiss citizens anymore).
Tax authorities these days have probably gotten a little more alert.
I thought about this some more in my hometime traffic jam.... And I think the previous poster is probably right. If someone buys a house in France and pays the local taxes on it, everything is fine. As you say, no-one can ask for a resident's permit, as they no longer exist for EU/Swiss folk. So, to back track, the idea could be a good one, and not far from legal, due to the lack of a marriage certificate.
A further question , i live in Kanton Schwyz, taxed there, but have new position near Solothurn , Im Swiss/English with both passports.
I wanted to rent a small place just over the border in france for during the week ...are there any tax implication here, im just living in france as its more convenient than a daily commute.