🇨🇭 Switzerland: how residence and citizenship work

Key facts

How Switzerland decides tax residence

Each test is recorded separately with its own ID. Meeting or missing one test does not settle residence on its own.

Reporting duties to check

• Taxation according to expenditure (lump-sum taxation, Art. 14 DBG). At federal level, a person may pay a tax based on expenditure instead of income tax if they do not hold Swiss citizenship, are taxable on personal grounds for the first time or after an absence of at least ten years, and carry on no gainful activity in Switzerland; married couples living together must both meet the conditions. The tax base is annual living costs, with minimum amounts set in the law, and cantons apply their own rules, so check the cantonal law. Source

Social security

Switzerland applies EU coordination rules for social security with EU and EFTA states under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, and has bilateral social security conventions with other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the United States, listed by the Federal Social Insurance Office. Only the legal texts and conventions decide individual cases.

Living base

EU and EFTA nationals generally move to Switzerland under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, while others need a permit for a specific purpose such as work or family. A residence permit does not decide tax liability, which follows the tax domicile and tax stay rules.

How visas, permits and tax residence differ

Citizenship

Ordinary naturalisation requires ten years of residence in Switzerland and a permanent residence permit (C permit); years spent in Switzerland between ages 8 and 18 count double, with at least six years of actual residence. Cantonal law also sets a minimum residence period of two to five years in the canton and commune. The State Secretariat for Migration states that dual nationality has been recognised without restriction since 1 January 1992.

Read the citizenship guide

Questions to take to a professional

1. Would my stays in Switzerland create a tax domicile, or a tax stay under the 30-day or 90-day tests?
2. Does any gainful activity I carry on in Switzerland change which day test applies?
3. How does my canton and commune tax me, and how do cantonal rules differ from the federal rules?
4. Would taxation according to expenditure be available in my canton, and what minimum tax base would apply?
5. If another country also treats me as resident, how does the relevant tax treaty tie-breaker apply?
6. Which social security system covers me under the free movement agreement or a bilateral agreement?

Official authorities

• Swiss Federal Tax Administration (ESTV / AFC)
• State Secretariat for Migration (SEM)
• Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV / OFAS)

Sources

• Bundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG), SR 642.11, Stand 2 September 2026Primary law
• Ordinary naturalisationOfficial guidance
• Dual nationalityOfficial guidance
• Informations sur les conventions bilatérales de sécurité sociale (Federal Social Insurance Office)Official guidance

Other countries in Europe

Countries covered

Switzerland

Sources

4 sources listed above

Tax year

Current rules as checked

Review

Not professionally reviewed
Sources checked November 8, 2026