140K USD offer for contractor position as product manager. Is ANOBAG my only option that is not a nightmare? Any advice?

Life Hacking
22

Unfortunately no, if you take the coverage of accident in your health insurance it is not reckognised.
You need a contract with SUVA (if required to contract with them) or with one the the company as defined by the Art 68 UVG and which are listed here for example.

23

But why can’t you do this privately instead of only via a company?

I don’t why they make things so difficult just to pay your contributions


24

In the law there is a solidarity system in the insurance for accident provided by an employer. An executive earning 250000 per year will pay 10 times more than an guy working 50% and earning 25000 per year because he is always practicing sport in the mountain. However the risk of accident of the executive if far smaller than for the young guy always in the mountain.
There is also some contribution for the suppletive insurance providing coverage for uninsured companies.
Sometime the system is more complicated than what you guess.
The other aspect is that as private you are not eligible (or credible) to conclude a professional insurance. I was, as anobag, turned away with lots of fake and silly arguments.

25

According to ANOBAG - Ersatzkasse UVG and Zuweisung - Ersatzkasse UVG, it seems that if you’re rejected as ANOBAG from 3 UVG insurers, you can fill a form to get a ZuweisungsverfĂŒgung where you get an insurance policy from an assigned insurer (who can’t reject you).

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26

To note is that UVG doesn’t just cover medical costs. UVG also covers loss of income, potentially for the rest of your life. I.e., the higher premiums for higher salaries are not just about solidarity, the higher premiums also come with higher coverage.

Also, the insured salary for mandatory UVG is currently capped at CHF 148 200.

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27

As PhilMongoose said, you can register as individual ANobAG to SUVA for UVG (BUV and NBUV, in German), but even if they rejected you (or they are highly unresponsive), AXA offers such insurances for ANobAG people. Plus they handle English, which might be important for some.

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28

In theory yes, in practice they will not accept an ANobAG registration without an employment contract (at least this was my experience, there may be even cantonal differences because the cantonal AHV office decides this).

My experience shows difference - I had just “contract for contractor” which explicitly said “this is not employment contract and company does not consider me as employee under any circumstance” and it worked perfectly fine for registering as ANobAG. Just like PhilMongoose said, it is not about whether your company considers you employee. It is whether Swiss law considers you an employee.

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29

I have, since ~3 years. In different cantons it is easier or more painful. In Schwyz was pretty straightforward. In Zurich it is slooooow, at least for me.

  1. Taxes: you pay regular taxes like every Swiss (or C-permit) employed person, so it would not differ. No withholding tax. Your tax deductions might differ because of remote work, but that’s independent of ANobAG.
  2. You have to pay employer and employee share of social insurances (AHV/IV), unless employer agrees to pay his share, which seems not your case. That will be double of regular employment case, around ~13% of gross amount.
  3. For US employer, you should not need BVG/2nd pillar, so at least this you save. This could mean you have much higher 3rd pillar limit (20% of income, but please clarify with tax office on this: I have a pending disagreement/complain about this with them).
  4. You need work and non-work related accident insurance (in german part called UVG). AXA offers one, but there is also public provider: SUVA. This might be around 1000-1500 CHF per year. If you want also sickness benefits insurance (KTG), then plus ~1000 CHF. Numbers are very rough.
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30

I worked as an anobag for a few years for a US based company as fully remote from Switzerland. It’s a good setup, you’ll have a bit of paper work but it’s much simpler than creating an a gmbh.

  • You will pay the employer and employee share of the AHV so total of about 10% of gross salary
  • You’ll have to reach out to insurance companies for an accident insurance (UVG) I paid 1200chf/year with Mobiliar
  • Cherry on the cake, for non EU you don’t need to contribute to the second pillar/BVG. Keep the money out of rotten pension plans

My US contract explicitly said “contractor”, “not employment”, etc
 but that was not an issue to the social security office (Kanton zurich at the time)

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