Rescinding Swiss Residency

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
I am a UK citizen by birth, but live (own a house), work, have a family and pay tax in Switzerland. We all have attained Swiss citizenship as dual nationality, are considered resident in Switzerland and hold both passports.

I am approaching retirement and want to avoid paying Swiss tax when I retire.

Please, does any one know if this (by and large) possible by being considered UK resident, and what would I have to comply with to rescind residency in Switzerland but retain citizenship?

Yep, I want to have my cake and eat it.

Many thanks for any suggestions how to find out without having to commit...

2
If you don’t live in Switzerland you won’t pay taxes. Except if you retain property or other investments here.

3
Switzerland is not the US.

4
Leave the country. You will probably be hit with paying Swiss health insurance though, if you stay in EU/UK.

5
Where will you live? If you get Swiss pension, and want to live in UK, you will have to continue to pay for Swiss Health Insurance.

6
After Brexit when you move to live in the UK then you should not be liable for Swiss health insurance unless there is some provision about this in the "mind the gap" agreement.

So long as you are out of Switzerland for 183 days in a year then no Swiss tax to pay unless you have property.

If you move to an EU country then you will have to pay Swiss health insurance plus if you get any UK pensions then they will not be increased each year.

Your State Pension will only increase each year if you live in: the European Economic Area (EEA) Gibraltar. Switzerland. countries that have a social security agreement with the UK (but you cannot get increases in Canada or New Zealand)

7
So you want to own your house in Switzerland, live in Switzerland, get paid in Switzerland and taxed in another country?

Looks like another one for the "I've found a brilliant loophole"-thread

8
The same as British citizens can live in Switzerland their whole lives and never pay a penny to HMRC; you can leave Switzerland, set up your life in the UK and not pay tax here.

There are plenty of Swiss citizens who are not resident here and pay no tax here. It's normal.

9
Wrong. In the post Brexit UK-CH agreement, if you retire in the UK you have to continue to pay Swiss health insurance. There is a whole thread on it on here somewhere.

10
This is what the Mind the Gap agreement says

"Persons who are entitled to a pension based on the aggregation of insurance periods from both countries are still subject to the rules laid down in Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and (EC) No 987/2009 concerning sickness insurance."

So far as I understand it means the UK and Switzerland have to agree on individual cases in which state is responsible for providing sickness insurance.

Makes sense if, for example, somebody worked 40 years in the UK and six in Switzerland then forcing them to pay Swiss health insurance does not seem fair.

11
I am sure it is much less days than that. But you are free to prove me wrong an cite the actual law.

12

The UK/Switzerland double tax agreement states;
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), remuneration derived by a
resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:
(a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in the fiscal year concerned of that State, and
(b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State;

Pensions; Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19, pensions and other similar remuneration paid to an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State, shall be taxable only in that State.

Resident: he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests)

13

Think this is the one you’re thinking of.

https://www.englishforum.ch/insuranc…ce-issues.html

And this post in there specifically.

14
Actually you contradicted yourself there! As the EU is part of the EEA your pension will be increased if you live in the EU.

15

Tax residence between the UK and Switzerland is a question of fact, not option or election. The tests are described in the UK-Swiss double tax treaty . See Article 4.

Basically the tests - in order (you go through until you find a test that definitively places you in one country or the other) - are domicile/residence, permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode (likely where you spend most time), nationality and finally agreement between both countries. Pensions (apart from lump sums) are only taxed on the basis of residence according to these tests (the 183 day thing is only relevant to employment income).

As far as citizenship is concerned, once you have it, it’s normally permanent (unless you do some rather severe law breaking in the first 5 years).

16
You are correct, I must have had a senior moment.