Income tax in Switzerland 2026: federal rates up to 11.5%, a stay of 30 or 90 days

The Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DFTA), as it stood on 1 January 2026, opens two doors in article 3. You are domiciled in Switzerland if you live there with the intention of settling permanently. You are staying there for tax purposes if, without significant interruption, you live there for at least 30 days while carrying on paid work, or for at least 90 days without it. These limits are low and should not be set beside the 183 days of other countries, because they measure one unbroken presence and not a total across a year. One exception applies: someone who keeps a domicile abroad and comes only to attend a school or for treatment in an institution is neither domiciled nor staying. Liability starts on the day you settle or the stay begins and ends on the day you leave, under article 8. The Act does not define a significant interruption, and the counter above takes your trips as entered to measure your longest continuous presence.

The 2026 federal scale, in francs

Article 36 does not give classic bands but a base amount of tax, then an amount per 100 further francs. Expressed as a marginal rate for a single person:

From CHF 794,000 of income, the tax is CHF 91,310, then CHF 11.50 per 100 further francs: the rate then covers the whole income, which is 11.5%. That is why the marginal rate falls back at the top of the scale, from 13.2% to 11.5%. Married couples living together have their own scale in paragraph 2, starting at CHF 29,700 and reaching the same 11.5% at CHF 941,400. It also serves single people living with children or dependants whom they mainly support, and the resulting tax falls by CHF 263 per child or dependant (paragraph 2bis). Amounts below CHF 25 are not collected.

A direct calculation from that article, for CHF 100,000 of taxable income: a single person owes CHF 2,684.35 of federal tax (CHF 1,502.95 at 82,100, plus CHF 6.60 per 100 on 17,900); a married couple with no children owes CHF 1,816 (CHF 1,561 at 94,900, plus CHF 5 per 100 on 5,100). That is the federal share only, on income already net of deductions.

The cantons use the same threshold. Article 3 of the Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Taxes of Cantons and Communes (DTHA) repeats the 30 days with paid work and 90 days without, with no significant interruption, at the level of the canton. Its article 1, however, leaves the scales, the rates and the tax-free amounts to the cantons: what holds for the count does not hold for the amount.

Resident or merely connected: what Switzerland taxes

A personal connection creates unlimited liability, though it does not extend to businesses, permanent establishments and real estate located abroad (art. 6). Without domicile or stay, an economic connection can still tax you on the Swiss part: a business or permanent establishment in Switzerland, Swiss real estate, dealing in property (art. 4), employed or self-employed work carried out there, a directorship and the other cases in article 5. A person liable in this partial way pays the rate their total income would bear if all of it were taxable in Switzerland (art. 7). Two points run against habit: a capital gain on private assets is not taxable (art. 16(3)), and income is assessed over the calendar year, which is the tax period (art. 40). When you arrive mid-year, tax covers income from that part of the year, but the rate for periodic income is set on a twelve-month basis.

Foreign employees: withholding comes before any return

A worker without a settlement permit, domiciled or staying in Switzerland, pays withholding tax on employment income (art. 83), unless a spouse in the same household is Swiss or holds a settlement permit. Someone outside the compulsory assessment cases of article 89 may ask for a later ordinary assessment, no later than 31 March of the following year, or when filing the departure return if leaving the country. Without that request, withholding replaces direct federal tax on this income and no further deduction is allowed (art. 89a). Cross-border commuters and other employees domiciled abroad also fall under withholding (art. 91), with a request possible by the same 31 March under conditions (art. 99a), for instance when most of their worldwide income is taxable in Switzerland. So that date is a real checkpoint in the calendar. The Federal Tax Administration says employers pass this tax on to the cantonal tax authorities and that its scales are cantonal.

Taxation on expenditure

A person without Swiss nationality, liable for the first time or after ten years away, and with no paid work in Switzerland, has the right to be taxed on spending instead of income (art. 14). The minimum base is the highest of several amounts, including CHF 435,000 a year, seven times the annual rent or rental value for a head of household, and certain Swiss-source income. In a couple, both must meet the conditions.

Reading 30 or 90 days on a real calendar

The counter applies both limits, according to your answer on paid work: 30 days if you work there, 90 days if not. The stay set by default, 2 March to 15 April 2026, runs for 45 days in a row, enough for an employee, not for a retiree or visitor without work: switch the answer to No to see it. Paid work changes the reading of an identical calendar, which is why it pays to enter real trips and not a total. Does a weekend abroad break a stay? The Act says "without significant interruption" and fixes no length, and we read nothing further in the text. If you split a stay in the counter, remember that a short pause may not be significant, so the figure shown is a minimum, not a safe margin.

Domicile, for its part, is not counted at all: the intention to settle permanently can be enough from arrival. A flat taken in Geneva with lasting employment is judged on that intention, with no threshold to wait for.

Filing and leaving

The authority invites taxpayers to file a return by official notice, personal letter or by sending the form, and even someone who has received nothing must file one (art. 124). It must be complete, personally signed and handed in on time. On departure, liability ends the day you leave Switzerland, unless something taxable stays behind: real estate or work keeps you within the economic connection. If another country also treats you as resident, start with the applicable treaty, which this page does not cover: see dual tax residency, the country table and the France page for a move from there. To keep your days on record from one stay to the next, the Taxlag app holds your dates; the counter above stays open to anyone.