Switzerland

An individual is Swiss tax resident with the intention to permanently establish their usual abode (typically their centre of vital interests) while registered with municipal authorities, or by staying in Switzerland to work for at least 30 consecutive days, or without working for at least 90 consecutive days.

The Swiss tax year is the calendar year. Tax returns are due by 31 March of the following year in the canton of residence, though a few cantons set different deadlines, and extensions to September or November are usually available on request. Married couples must file jointly.

Non-residents are taxed only on Swiss-source income and wealth, including Swiss employment income, board fees from Swiss companies, Swiss dividends and bank interest, and Swiss real estate, under the same layered federal, cantonal, and communal rates that apply to residents.

Deductible items include an employee's own social security contributions, actual or lump-sum commuting costs, additional meal costs, general business-related expenses, and further-education costs, with a double-earner deduction available when both spouses work. Because deductions are largely regulated at cantonal level, the specific amounts differ substantially by canton.

Foreign nationals resident in Switzerland, unless they hold a permanent residence permit or are married to a Swiss spouse or permanent-residence-permit holder, are subject to monthly wage tax withholding covering federal, cantonal, and municipal tax, and file an ordinary tax return only once their gross employment income exceeds CHF 120,000 a year.

Businesses become liable for VAT once worldwide turnover from taxable supplies reaches CHF 100,000 (a higher CHF 250,000 threshold applies to voluntarily-run non-profit sporting and cultural associations and to charitable institutions); a business below the applicable threshold may still register voluntarily.

Some supplies, such as hospital treatment, cultural services, and insurance/reinsurance and money-and-capital-transaction turnovers, are exempt without credit, meaning input VAT on them cannot be deducted; exports and similar directly-dispatched-abroad supplies are instead fully exempt, preserving the right to deduct input VAT.