I hope you are all well, I just discovered this forum and the quality of the responses just blew me away. This is one very helpful community that I hope to be part of someday!
Anyway, together with my SO we are living and working in Germany but we will probably be moving soon to Zurich. my SO got an offer to work there on a b2b contract and they asked her to create a sole proprietorship asap. We already called the taxoffice and they told us more or less how to create one but I still have a couple of questions:
- My SO compensation will be above 100k CHF so I understand that we need to get an accountant. Do you have any details to a german/english speaking accountant in or about Zurich?
- It will be a 100% contract so won't the tax office try to file it as a normal employment contract? We read somewhere that you need 3 different income sources for it to be a legitimate SP.
- The taxes are 9.5% for the sole + 13% in VAT?
- We will need an insurance company. Do you recommend any? Axa? Allianz?
- Any benefits of having a regime of separate property between us in case of any legal problems?
- How to do 2020 tax filings? As far as I know, because my SO didn't live in Zurich for more than 6 months we will be able to do a join german tax filling this year. But what about the next. If I find work in Switzerland can a SP and a normal taxpayer pay fill for taxes jointly? Are there any benefits by doing so?
- My SO starts her contract in October, in 2 weeks, and we need to find a small flat asap. Do you have any tips and tricks? What documents are needed?
Golly, I have way too many questions. Sorry for the wall of text! And thank you for any answers!
PS: let me know if I should crosspost this topic to taxes!
-Accountant is optional. I am not aware of any law which would mandate an accountant for a sole proprietorship. Nevertheless, bookkeeping must follow the usual standards.
- Instead of sole proprietorship there is the option of ANOBAG, which is for employees without a Swiss employer. There would be no VAT due with ANOBAG.
- In a sole proprietorship income tax will be levied as part of the overall world wide income. In case of a married couple the world wide income of both spouses. Tax rate depends on combined net income. VAT rate is 7.7%.
- Insurance? Depends for what life insurance, health insurance, cars and other vehicle, general private 3rd party liability, company liability insurance, contents, legal insurance? Not all companies offer all insurances and health or legal insurances is mostly offer by other special companies. It might makes sense to use more than one insurance provider.
- Property regime? I do not know. Maybe, but liability between couples is anyway limited.
- Swiss tax residency starts when you take up your residency in Switzerland and ends when you move away from Switzerland or you die. Swiss and foreign tax residency can and might exists concurrently. Depending on a possible double taxation agreement tax has to be paid in only one of the involved countries. £In absence of a double tax agreement tax would have to be paid at both places.
- Look on the usual suspects such as homagte.ch immouscout24.ch and be prepared that you will need a temp apartment, Air BnB, or hotel. Two weeks is a very, very short time, but many apartments are offered with starting date October 1st.
There are three options for an individual working exclusively for a foreign company:
1. Anobag: As mentioned by aSwissinTheUS above, Anobag could be a viable option. The individual would be a Swiss employee of the foreign company and the individual would be responsible for Swiss social charges including a pension payments. The individual can handle the paperwork or engage a Treuhand to do it.
2. Temp staffing company: The individual works as an employee of a temporary staffing company (sometimes called "payroll provider"). The foreign company remits the employee wages and other costs to the staffing company and the staffing company pays its Swiss employee. The staffing company is also responsible for handling social charge payments including pension costs.
3. Legal entity (GmbH): A Swiss legal entity is set up (or purchased) which employs the individual in CH and bills the foreign company.
For someone new to CH, option 1., supported by a Treuhand or option 2. above would be the simplest options.
Anobag and sole proprietorship (Einzelfirma) have been discussed numerous times on EF. It might be worthwhile to search the forum for more information on these options.
Added: for a pension plan for option 1., the OP might wish to contact Stiftung Auffangeinrichtung BVG, a quasi-governmental entity: