Legally? No.
I see you flailing around like a fish on the beach. A fish convinced that, rightfully, there should have to be water.
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Now it makes more sense. As per the article, you only pay direct federal tax and not cantonal taxes until you establish a new residence.
In all cases, I will tell my accounting firm all the details, and they can make my tax return compliant.
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It will be nice to give us a feedback on the outcome of your situation once you managed to settle it down.
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Will try.
Honestly this would be amazing to keep Swiss residence. I would be travelling the world for cheap, keep the Swiss residence for a peace of mind, and only pay the federal taxes (not cantonal). Not have to pay capital gains. I could also claim the W8-BEN dividend witholding tax reduction. This is almost as good as Dubai.
Yeah, I would pay Swiss health insurance of about 350 CHF a month. Expensive, but if that saves me from buying a separate accident insurance then alright. I hope if in case of emergency Helsana covers the costs. Otherwise I will be pissed.
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It says Federal court is clear you have to pay Federal taxes.
It does not say you do not have to pay cantonal taxes.
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But which canton would you pay taxes to if you no longer have permanent address in a canton?
It would be logical to me that once the canton gives you the official letter of deregistration and you no longer hold the permanent address in a canton, they cannot tax you. Otherwise, what is even the point of de-registration procedure?
The canton of your last domicile.
It is a notification, which trigger a process. Even when moving within CH your âde-registrationâ is effective only once you settled/registered in another Gemeinde.
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Hm, I had one more thought.
The cantonal authorities demanded my B residence permit back. So I am without a residence permit now, so this must mean I cannot be a Swiss resident anymore?
Can you be a swiss resident without a residence permit? Are you sure that the person from that article above was not a Swiss citizen? Or is the residence permit irrelevant in this discussion?
Hypothetically, what if the person held non-EU B permit and was taken from them, and was in this exact situation? Would they be considered resident or domiciled in switzerland and be liable for taxes, even though they cannot even enter the country?
You owe taxes at your last residence, until you become a resident elsewhere. If that doesnt happen, you still owe communal tax, cantonal tax and federal tax atvOur lastvresidency. On top of that, you owe AHV on your wealth.
The question is if / by when the community would catch you and realise you were not taxed elsewhere. But this is a topic to not talk about as we want to stay within the rules.
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Let me correct that for you. An individual is deemed to become (not be) a tax residentâŠ
Once you become it, the criteria no longer applies to rule if you still continued to be oneâŠ
First of all. After you have deregistered, I donât think Switzerland expect taxes from you. They obviously assume that you are leaving the country. During deregister process , they must have asked you for your next address. And I think they expect you to be going there. Didnât they?
The problem you have is that Health insurance want a proof of next residency which you are not going to have because itâs not your plan. I would recommend to ask Gemeinde about the process and rules about health insurance cancellation with respect to your case. I think they would be able to provide some suggestions. Your case might be unique
Regarding the plan to be non resident for few years. If you have any financial expectations from CH like pension fund withdrawal, tax refund or anything else like this, then make sure you already discuss your situation with relevant organizations. This also applies if you want to return to CH after your long trips. It could pose a challenge.
By the way. In some countries. Nationals are deemed to be resident if they are not resident anywhere else. So please do check local laws of your native country.
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They asked and it is also on the deregistration form. I have said I will not be taking another job and I donât know in what country I will eventually settle. They said they donât care and to just leave it empty.
Honestly right now I donât really care. In a way I am okay with keeping CH as my tax residency. I would save more in US dividend witholding tax (W8-BEN agreement) compared to the extra wealth tax. This is the OECD tax residency doc for CH, and I totally do not fit: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/topics/policy-issue-focus/aeoi/switzerland-tax-residency.pdf
I am also OK with keeping to pay Helsana, as long as they provide full emergency insurance coverage abroad (I mean the same conditions that Swiss get in Switzerland). Itâs not that much more expensive.
All I need is certainity. Can I just message the Einwohnerkontrolle of my canton, or the Steueramt? Will they give me a written definitive clatification that I can rely on in future tax matters and potential disputes?
It looks pretty clear to me, based on the the information in the thread, that yes, such a person would be liable for federal/cantonal/communal taxes (plus AVH, health insurance, maybe others) as if they were still physically residing where they used to, without having the right to actually live there.
Would they be considered as legally domiciled there? I donât know, I presume thatâs going to differ based on which jurisdiction you ask, and for what purpose exactly. Some countries might say itâs fine not to have a domicile, some might say âthen itâs your previous oneâ, some might say âthen itâs based on your citizenshipâ and so on. That doesnât change the fact they would be liable for taxes in Switzerland. There are plenty of examples of tax liabilities in countries where you are not a resident (US citizens abroad, real estate generally, âŠ)
Is it unfair? Arguably because they pay for taxes they mostly cannot benefit from. But itâs also pretty clearly a way to avoid people not paying any taxes by fleeting around the world.
I think that normally it should be better to establish clear tax residence somewhere, otherwise you run the risk of being taxed in multiple jurisdictions and also do not have the benefit of tax treaties.
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To be honest, contrary to comments from others, I donât know if CH will be keen to provide you tax residency. You wonât live here. You wonât work here. You wonât even be here. In my view there is a high probability that you will not be given a tax residency unless you have a huge amount of wealth.
What you should be worried about is as @PhilMongoose said that you might end up with multiple tax jurisdictions and end up paying more tax than needed.
So yes; please check with Steueramt and get a written confirmation on what are options for you
- can you continue to be tax resident of CH? If yes then what are the requirements
- Would you be forced to be tax resident of CH, if yes then what are your obligations
Second point
Letâs not mix the topic of health insurance company being difficult vs. Seeking tax domicile in CH. They are not same things. I think health insurance will charge you fees but would they really cover you internationally? Again paying premiums and getting covered are not same things. So get a written confirmation from them that since they force you to pay premium, they will cover your health too.
In this regard, my recommendation would be to ask Gemeinde to advise on how to get the insurance cancelled. Clean cut is better than complicated situation.
third point -: health insurance and accident insurance are different in Switzerland. Health insurance wonât cover accidents and vice versa.
Last point -: for my curiosity, have you checked with your home country, that you can continue to be non-resident for them even if you are not a resident anywhere else?
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I was working abroad under a Swiss contract and my wife came with me for a while.
The insurance in CH offers some offers that you increase your coverage worldwide.
The main difference between a world private insurance ( I had one) than Swiss Insurance abroad (my wife)
Main Difference
With a private insurance you have a âsmallâ choice
Normally, with the Swiss insurance you need to pay upfront the expenses and ask to reimburse (not sure if there are other way, but bring the original or copies of the bills by post is an extreme pain for me).
why donât you just read how the Swiss system, and Swiss insurance works? You get emergency coverage, but capped to a bit more than what cost would have been in Switzerland. Meaning you had an issue at least in the US, Japan and Singapore but you were pretty much ok in most other countries. Plus - you wonât get non-emergency coverage, as these need to be performed at your domicile.
If you were a non-European with no right to just re-activate residency in Switzerland. You would therefore face a major issue if you developped e.g. a chronical illness/cancer. Its treatment would only be covered in your Domicile (Switzerland) but you would not be allowed to enter the country for anything beyond short term tourismn.
In my view, you should consult a Tax advisor first and then decide for another Tax domicile. Understand that e.g. Malta was a good places for such setup.
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Here is a similar thread and which may be helpful. Someone had talked to a tax advisor before leaving Switzerland - they moved to another country as an in between step
Continuing the off topic as tax situation is different from health insurance where this is clear cut: which tax domicile do you declare to your financial institutions (note that theyâll do automatic data sharing).