Hello,
I am living and working in Zurich and I am thinking of moving to Zug while working in Zurich.
As far as I am aware I will then be taxed as a Zug resident and no longer be taxed in Zurich. Since I am not certain if I will like life in Zug, I want to sublet my Zurich apartment for 6~12 months. Will subletting my current apartment in Zurich instead of giving it away affect my tax resident status in Zug?
You need to be able to clearly show you’re living in Zug (“center of life”). Subletting will obviously be one argument in favor of Zurich if this ever come up in a detailed investigation but if you can show otherwise that you spend all your night/weekends in Zug it shouldn’t be an issue (esp. if this is temporary).
Yes, this seems pretty straightforward if you sublet to a stranger and if you’re not just moving temporarily for the end-of-the-year months.
If you move to Zug for the 6 months surrounding December to move back afterwards they might not believe that it was your honest idea to permanently move. Though actually idk if that’s relevant, as long as you do, as a matter of fact, move.
If you are living & registered in Zug and someone else is living & registered in Zurich, then it’s fine.
However Zurich authorities might ask questions as they would like to ensure paperwork matches real life
.
Until when can the authorities make a decision about where I should be taxed? Can I be taxed in Zug and then years later tell me actually you should have been taxed in Zurich and you owe us money?
yes
Up to how many years can they take until they are no longer allowed to update their decisions? 1? 5? 20?
well, they just randomly opened 2020 onwards for me a few months ago.
normal limit is 5 years. can be 10 years in some cases.
That said don’t stress about it, if you’re actually moving there isn’t really much risk.
If you are relocating to Zug, there is no issue. It doesn’t matter how many years. Many people live in Zug and work in Zurich. Subletting or not doesn’t make any difference
If you are on relocating on paper, and tax office finds out, there will be charge of tax fraud. I don’t think then it matters how long it takes them to find out
The problem is the nebulous “center of life” question. As in if I go to the gym in Zurich instead of Zug or my friends are in Zurich will I be treated as Zurich resident?
If you don’t spend your nights/weekends in Zurich I don’t see any issue.
I once listened to a podcast about similar topics. One person (I think from a tax authority, but I don’t know anymore) said that tax fraudsters had already been caught using credit card statements. But the issue there was that someone had declared a residence in Monaco and a second residence in Zug. According to the credit card statement, however, he was demonstrably in Zug more often. I can’t remember which podcast this was discussed in, but there’s a news item about it here:
But if I were you, I really wouldn’t worry about it.
What does “spending the night/weekend” mean? Sleeping in Zurich, or going to gym in Zurich?
Look. There is no way tax office can claim you live in Zurich if you live in Zug
But similarly, they will find a way to prove if the reality is other way around.
Question is are you actually relocating to Zug or you are trying to find a tax optimisation situation?
I would really recommend not to try the later. I have heard surprise visits are made sometimes to see where do you actually live.
Fwiw:
Um dem Ehepaar auf die Schliche zu kommen, nutzten die Ermittler verschiedene Methoden. So überprüften sie beispielsweise, wo das Paar am meisten einkaufen ging: Auffallend waren die zahlreichen Coop- und Denner-Einkäufe in Filialen nicht unweit ihres Hauses im Kanton Zürich, in Zug wurde dagegen kaum eingekauft.
… and …
Aber nicht nur das: Die Ermittler untersuchten sogar Fotos von Familienfeiern, um herauszufinden, wo das Paar sich am meisten aufhielt.
What I would like to know how exactly the tax authorities established their grocery shopping habits across the two cantons…
This is a pretty clear case, so I guess they only go after the most gross violations. Not really after “center of life” which can be nebulous and even mean “where are your friends?”, but actually spenidng the nights in Zurich and rarely visit Zug.
The article says 82 cases over four years. Just to indictate the tax authorities are acutely aware of people trying to dodge taxes by pretending to live in a “cheaper” canton, which is fine if it reflects realitiy - just make sure everything is documented. I once had to “prove” that I indeed lived mostly in the cheaper canton where I worked and stayed five days a week (the “cheaper” canton being ZH in my case… don’t ask 
) - I sent the other canton credit card statements, at which point they apologized and backed off.
Maybe you should clarify what’s your actual plan?
Live in Zug
Or
Pretend to live in Zug ?
What does pretend to live in Zug mean? I will have an apartment there and I plan to sleep there every evening. I just want to make sure that I will follow the rules which are very unclear and nebulous.
I am wondering, if I take the train every Friday night, until Sunday night and go to Italy, will it in any way affect my tax residence status in Zug? Of course I will not exceed 180 days in Italy per year as a whole.