The big overview
These are the tax hells and paradises of Switzerland
The choice of where to live can leave a deep hole in your wallet. A comparison of the tax burden in different municipalities shows: Depending on where you live, you have to transfer five, six or seven times as much to the tax authorities.
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A comparison of the communities shows: Depending on where you live, the x-fold amount of tax has to be transferred to the tax authorities.
The tax administration’s mail might be the most unwanted of all. However, looking at the tax bill is by no means equally painful in every municipality. There are huge differences depending on where you live. When comparing the most expensive and cheapest places to live, in extreme cases, taxes can be multiplied x-fold, as the “Tages-Anzeiger” has broken down in today’s edition.
Taxpayers have to dig deep into their pockets, especially in western Switzerland. But one canton also stands out there: Regardless of whether you are a retired couple, a one-person household or a family with two children, Neuchâtel occupies the top spots in the most expensive municipalities for practically all types of household.
Single retirees pay even more
In Enges NE and Les Verrières NE, a one-person household with an income of CHF 100,000 pays 19.97 percent to the tax authorities. The 19 most expensive municipalities are all in Neuchâtel. Finally, scolding in the canton of Bern comes in 20th place with 19.04 percent. Anyone who earns 100,000 will experience Swiss tax hell in Neuchâtel, in Bern and in Valais.
In the case of single-person households with an income of over 150,000 francs, the Neuchâtel phalanx is finally broken through by several Valais communities. In Leukerbad VS, more than 57,000 francs must be transferred to the authorities for a wage of 200,000 francs. Anyone who earns half a million and lives in Schelten BE pays almost 180,000 francs in taxes.
It is even more expensive for single pensioners. With an annual income of half a million, 203,500 francs go to the Treasury in the most expensive municipality, Schelten BE.
The differences to the cheapest municipalities are huge: A single person with an income of 100,000 francs pays 6.04 percent to the authorities in Baar ZG – compared to many Neuchâtel municipalities, that is not even a third. Zug is generally a tax haven. From 150,000 francs, however, life is the cheapest in terms of taxes in the canton of Schwyz. In Feusisberg SZ, for example, at least 9.06 percent must be paid to the tax authorities.
Schwyz lures with tax cuts
Families live particularly cheaply in Zug. With a household income of CHF 150,000, only 2.15 percent tax is due in Baar ZG. The same family pays 14.18 percent in Enges NE – almost seven times as much. But even in Solothurn or Bern, this family would sometimes have to cede between 13 and 14 percent to the tax authorities.
What the data analysis of the “Tages-Anzeiger” also shows: Anyone who already lives in a tax haven can expect further tax breaks. For example, many low-tax municipalities in Zurich and Zug further reduced taxes last year.
In contrast, there were particularly generous tax gifts in the canton of Schwyz. In Unteriberg SZ, a family with two children and an income of CHF 150,000 now pays CHF 9,200 in taxes, almost 10 percent less than the year before.