Retiring in Switzerland
Switzerland: the tax picture for FIRE
Switzerland's federal income tax is light: nothing on roughly the first CHF 15,000 (the 0% band is the threshold — there is no separate allowance), marginal rates climbing to a 13.2% top band, and a flat 11.5% average above CHF 793,400. Federal tax is one layer of three: cantonal income tax, the largest component of a Swiss resident's bill, varies enormously (Zug and Schwyz low, Geneva and Vaud high), communal tax adds a further layer, and neither is yet modelled. For private investors there is no capital-gains tax on moveable assets, though an unmodelled cantonal net-wealth tax of roughly 0.05%–0.30% a year is a real annual cost.
At death there is no federal inheritance tax (a federal proposal was rejected by popular vote in November 2025); cantonal inheritance tax falls on the recipient instead, with spouses exempt everywhere and descendants exempt in Zurich and most — not all — cantons; Ember encodes Zurich's scale only. Our illustrative cost-of-living factor of 1.55 is itself low-confidence. All Swiss figures are draft and low-confidence — federal and Zurich-only — a first sketch, not a canton-accurate quote.
Income tax (2026)low confidence — approximate
| Band | Rate |
|---|---|
| CHF 0 – CHF 15,000 | 0% |
| CHF 15,000 – CHF 32,800 | 0.8% |
| CHF 32,800 – CHF 42,900 | 0.9% |
| CHF 42,900 – CHF 57,200 | 2.6% |
| CHF 57,200 – CHF 75,200 | 3% |
| CHF 75,200 – CHF 81,000 | 5.9% |
| CHF 81,000 – CHF 107,400 | 6.6% |
| CHF 107,400 – CHF 139,600 | 8.8% |
| CHF 139,600 – CHF 182,600 | 11% |
| CHF 182,600 – CHF 793,400 | 13.2% |
| above CHF 793,400 | 11.5% |
What this model doesn’t capture (13)
- FEDERAL-ONLY FLOOR — this pack models federal direct tax (Bundessteuer) ONLY (max ~11.5% marginal), so the CH figure is a LOWER BOUND, not a realistic Swiss tax estimate. Cantonal + communal income tax (the MAJORITY of a Swiss resident's bill, wholly canton-dependent) are NOT modelled: true combined income tax is roughly ~25%–40%+ top-marginal (Zug/Schwyz low vs Geneva/Vaud high). Do NOT rely on the modelled CH figure for a move/compare decision — it materially understates Swiss tax.
- CANTONAL income tax NOT modelled — the largest single component of the bill, varies enormously by canton (Zug/Schwyz low vs Geneva/Vaud high)
- COMMUNAL/municipal income tax NOT modelled — levied as a multiplier (Steuerfuss) of the cantonal tax, a large further layer that varies by commune
- church tax (Kirchensteuer/impot ecclesiastique, cantonal, members only) not modelled
- the federal scale is a base-plus-marginal FORMULA per bracket; encoded here as flat marginal bands — small rounding vs the exact statutory table
- the schedule is periodically INDEXED for cold progression (kalte Progression); 2026 thresholds should be re-verified against the exact ESTV/AFC table before use
- married/registered-partner scale (Verheiratetentarif, more generous) not modelled — SINGLE-filer scale only
- no CGT on private movable assets (separate regime; cantonal real-estate gains tax exists) — not part of this income pack
- 35% federal withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) on dividends/interest, creditable/refundable, not modelled
- AHV/IV/EO + ALV social contributions on employment income not modelled (not relevant to drawdown, but relevant to salary)
- lump-sum taxation regime (forfait fiscal / taxation according to expenditure) for wealthy non-working foreigners not modelled — overrides ordinary income tax for qualifying arrivals
- cantonal net-wealth tax (~0.05%-0.30%) not modelled — a real annual cost for a HNW retiree, separate from income tax
- selfEmployment: no regime module — self-employed social contributions / business-income surcharges for this jurisdiction are not modelled
Capital gainsmedium confidence
No capital-gains tax on financial assets.
No CGT for private investors on moveable assets.
Inheritance & estate taxlow confidence — approximate
Tax is charged on each recipient, scaled by their relationship to the deceased.
Recipient-side CANTONAL inheritance tax; there is no federal layer (a federal proposal was rejected by popular vote on 30 Nov 2025). Encoded canton = Zurich only: base scale §22 × relationship multiplier §23, pre-multiplied into the bands (siblings ×3 after a CHF 15,000 allowance; unrelated ×6, no allowance). Spouse/registered partner exempt in all cantons (synthetic CHF 1bn allowance sentinel, not a legal cap); descendants exempt in ZH and most — not all — cantons. ZH's §21 allowance is a deduction and the §22 tops are post-allowance amounts, so band boundaries are encoded UNSHIFTED. Above CHF 1.5m taxable, §22(2) levies a flat 6% of the total — mathematically an exact final marginal band of 18% (sibling) / 36% (other) AFTER the higher 21%/42% band: the marginal-rate drop is the real law. Biggest distortions: cantonal spread is the tax itself (unrelated heirs on CHF 500k: 0% in SZ/OW vs ~54% in GE), and the 'other' class over-taxes ZH's cheaper intermediate relatives (×2/×4/×5 multipliers, life-partner CHF 50k allowance).
When should you claim your Switzerland state pension?medium confidence
Switzerland AHV/AVS state pension
Normal pension age 65. Deferring adds about 6.3% for each year you wait, up to age 70. Claiming early from 63 cuts it by about 6.8%/yr.
Early reduction of 6.8%/yr is exactly linear (official leaflet 3.04). The deferral supplement is CONVEX (5.2% at 1yr up to 31.5% at 5yr); the linear 6.3%/yr here is anchored at the 5-year cap and OVERSTATES years 1–4 by ~1–2pp — approximate, verify against the official AHV table for partial deferrals. Reference age 65 (men and women born 1964+); the women's transitional schedule (reference age below 65, early draw from 62 for those born 1961–1969, settled 65 from 2029) is not modelled. Partial-pension (20–80%) drawdown is not modelled.
The best age to claim isn’t just about these factors — it depends on your life expectancy, your other income, and which country you’re tax-resident in when the money lands. Deferring into a lower-tax country can flip the answer entirely. Optimise your claim age →
Cost of living
155%
of a UK baseline (100%) — a rough, illustrative comparison, not a forecast.
UK private pension
Under the UK treaty, a UK-sourced private pension paid to a resident here is generally taxed only where you live (not by the UK).
Common questions
How are capital gains taxed in Switzerland?
For private investors there is no capital-gains tax on moveable assets — realised gains on them are simply not taxed. Two related costs sit outside that headline: cantons levy an annual net-wealth tax of roughly 0.05%–0.30%, and a separate cantonal real-estate gains tax applies to property — neither is modelled in Ember yet. A 35% federal withholding tax on dividends and interest exists but is creditable or refundable, and is also not modelled.
Is there inheritance tax in Switzerland?
There is no federal inheritance tax — a federal proposal was rejected by popular vote in November 2025 — so the tax that exists is cantonal, charged to the recipient with rates set by relationship. Spouses and registered partners are exempt in every canton, and descendants are exempt in Zurich and most (not all) cantons; in Zurich, siblings pay a tripled base scale after a CHF 15,000 allowance and unrelated heirs six times the base scale with no allowance. The cantonal spread is the tax itself — an unrelated heir receiving CHF 500,000 pays nothing in Schwyz or Obwalden but around 54% in Geneva — and Ember currently encodes Zurich's scale only.
How high is income tax in Switzerland?
The federal scale is modest: 0% on roughly the first CHF 15,000, marginal bands rising to 13.2%, and a statutory cap of a flat 11.5% average above CHF 793,400. Cantonal income tax — the largest single component of a Swiss resident's bill, varying enormously by canton — and communal tax on top of it are not yet in Ember's model, and the encoded federal figures use the single-filer scale only, approximating the statutory formula as flat marginal bands. Ember's Swiss income-tax numbers are therefore draft, low-confidence and a deliberate under-estimate of the total bill until the cantonal layer is added.
What does Switzerland do to your FIRE date?
The free calculator compares your number across every covered country; the full planner models your actual accounts, pensions, residency moves and these exact tax rules — with the maths behind every figure shown.