I'm considering cantons with cheap accommodation costs to save more money. But I'm wondering, if my employer is located in Zurich and I live e.g. in Glarus canton, should I pay tax according to Zurich rate or according to Glarus rate?
Thanks
Hi,
Glarus: You pay tax where you live.
(Pedant alert: This assumes you have one residence, that it is your primary tax domicile, and that you are not doing complicated shuffling or some such.)
thank you for the reply
Preferential tax rates are somehow cancelled by the higher property/rent prices of places where such rates exist. This (albeit old) report from Credit Suisse may give you a better idea of the complete picture: https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/...nkommen-en.pdf
Whatever you may save and i say, "may" you will spend in time and money comuting from Glarus to Zurich, twice per day.
You pay taxes where you are domiciled
thank you for the comment. Here is my logic, please correct me if I’m wrong:
Rents in Zurich and nearby cantons are crazy high and also it’s difficult to get a room / flat especially having a foreign name and ethnicity like what I have. According to this page, rents are considerably cheaper in Glarus and Uri. Also I checked that tax is little bit more (around 2 percent) and apparently health insurance is also little bit cheaper.
https://de.statista.com/statistik/da...nach-kantonen/
I guess it’s easier to get accomodation there as it should be less competetive. I like outdoor activities and those places seem to be good. My work is IT and I can do part of my work on train (I heard this is common in Switzerlnd and there is a good chance that employers agree with it). So it seems to me that traveling 2-3 hours per day can bring a lot of benefit (currently i commute 2 hours every day in the country that Im living).
however please note that I have never been in Switzerland and currently Im planning for it, comparing it other options. But. crazy expense of Zurich, Zug scares me away. Meanwhile I prefer to go to cantons with lower tax.
if a you think ANY. of my assumptions are wrong, kindly please clarify me. I prefer to hear reality rather than dreaminh.
I pay way more tax in glarus then my colleagues who live in Zug, the cheaper rents wouldn't make up for the difference. (assuming you're going to be earning at least the swiss minimum wage of 120k)
but
we live in a much bigger house then I could even dream of affording in zug.
there is a 'fast' train from glarus into zurich HB which is just over an hour, if your working in zug you may wish to reconsider as thats a PITA to get to from glarus, you'd need to go into zurich and change trains. The drive from glarus to zug is about 1 hour. I wouldn't even contemplate driving into zurich as a commute.
Is true to an extent in Zurich city and the surrounding suburbs. The logic is blown out of the water when you hit Pfäffikon SZ. Rents are cheaper than Zurich and tax (income dependent much) lower.
I wouldn‘t say that Schwyz, Aargau, Thurgau are crazy expensive for what you get vs. Zurich. Agree Zug is nearly as expensive as Zurich
I would agree there is less competition outside of Zurich. Outside of the city there are good opportunities for outdoor activities everywhere.
I‘m not sure how common it is for an employer to count your travel time as productive time, however one thing I would say is that Swiss trains, as wonderful as they are, are not conducive to productive work. They are busy with not a huge amount of space during commuting hours and there are no suitable tables to work on.
Personally, I wouldn‘t want to go any further out than Lachen SZ if I were commuting into Zurich everyday. Certainly some cheap accommodation options in that area and a little further towards Glarus, but with lower taxes. Depending on my working hours, where in Zurich I worked and if I could get a reasonably priced parking space, I would consider driving in if I lived in Glarus. Conditions would be 7am start, 4:30 finish, south side of the city and no more than 150 a month. It would save a considerable amount of commuting time.
Another thing I would add is that you're afraid of discrimination due to your ethnicity. I'm not saying that you will necessary find it in Glarus, but I think the chances are much higher than in Zürich.
Re: Working during your commute on public transportation
In addition to the physical layout/crowding/discomfort of a packed train, you should also understand if your employer would allow working in a public space.
Some might have no qualms, but some might object for security reasons if your projects fall within that remit.
So before you structure your work schedule around a (possibly) productive commute, make sure your employer has no objections.
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Honestly, if you do not yet know Switzerland, the greater ZH area, culture and lifestyle, your employement culture, the demands of the job, etc., I'd go for a compromise that puts you half way from the city and countryside. Find a place that offers the lifestyle you think you want, emphasis on convenience, focus less on the cost. Then after a year, once you know more about what you truly want out of Switzerland - move wherever that is. Travel light the first year.
according to this website, in Zug you would pay 600chf less tax monthly (assuming 10000chf salary). and are you telling that difference in price of accomodation is not that much? Briefly checking options, I saw rooms in glarus for around 700chf /rent.
btw, how can I thank people’s post in this forum? I’m visiting here by phone and cant figure it out
which cantons / cities would you recommend that have better housing situation that Zurich and that dont impose much more tax, and that are easy to commute to Zurich onthe daily basis and withnot long commute time? the bigger the list, the vetter . so I can search on those
how can I put thanks on your replies? I dont have such option,apparently. Maybe because Im a new joiner?
The city only matters if you make over 120k, or have a C-permit, or are married to a Swiss (or are Swiss). Otherwise, only the canton matters.
Tom
I’ve already given you some ideas. I don’t have the time or inclination to do your research for you. There’s plenty of information on this forum if you search for it.
sorry can you please explain this further? I will come there as a European citizen and expecting to get min/around 120k annually (working as Software Architect)
Switzerland taxes at the federal, cantonal, and community levels. There can be significant differences not only among cantons but also among communities within a canton.
There is, however, a sort of simplified taxation scheme that applies to foreigners who are on an L or B permit and make under 120K, Quellensteuer. QS is paid on a withholding basis and is based on a cantonal average tax rate and averaged deductions. (It's slightly more complicated than that, but you get the gist.)
On QS, you would really only see a tax difference between cantons.
Once you have a C permit, make over 120K, are a Swiss citizen, or are married to a Swiss citizen, you fall under normal taxation. This means the specific community tax rate applies as well as the cantonal, you have to fill out a tax declaration, and can claim actual deductions.
Within a canton, if you live in a high tax community, you might end up paying less under Quellensteuer. If you live in a low tax community you might do better under normal taxation.
Go to comparis.ch and run through their quick-and-dirty calculators. While these might be off your actual numbers they will be close enough for broad decision-making.
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But I will say it again: In your first year here don't stress so much about saving relatively small amounts. Go for convenience (and in Zürich, wherever you actually find a roof over your head) and personal enjoyment. Some thousands here or there are not worth tying yourself up in a knot. You will learn (sometimes the hard way) how to optimise the things you value as you get to know Switzerland. In your second year you can then make more permanent decisions.
I stress this because BTDT, as have so many of us. Worrying about 'getting it right' from day one made settling far in more stressful than it should have been. Just accept that Switzerland is expensive, budget some thousands as the cost of being a newbie, and enjoy your new adventure. You can then recoup in year two once you understand more about how thing actually work and what is really important to you while living here.
Good luck with your move.
Or married to a c-permit.
there are lots of older housing in glarus which is indeed cheap, but if you compare the prices of new builds the difference isn't that great.
as for the locals being more racist in glarus, ffs, please, we live in the middle of farming country, the locals are XXX generation, and we've experienced no racism in the 9 years we've lived there, if you pay tax they love you
Ride in a train leaving Zurich HB for 20-25 minutes in (almost) any direction (maybe not south), and the accommodation becomes way less competitive. Last year we applied for five flats in Eglisau, Oberglatt, Konanu, and Bulach (+ ignored many others that did not match 100% our criteria), and got offers from all of them. For the first in our life in Switzerland!
And check immomapper.ch.