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Any good setups in Switzerland?

#41
marzio said:
I'll have to remember you that the very best deal in the world is to register a Swiss branch of a foreign company.

From this point of view with £200 a year for a UK LTD and CHF1000 for the Swiss branch you are done with the company formation costs.

Instead of a UK LTD you could use an Estonian OU.

Which canton are you going to relocate to?
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if you can recommend a - any - swiss service provider being active for your branch for chf 1,000... please post his name and address... have some dozen of clients interested in such an unique chance

joke... to run a swiss company, being a "full" one or the branch office of a foreign company you need, apart from a registered office address, at least ONE swiss or eu citizen (individual, no service companes) RESIDING IN THE COUNTRY... and i'm sure any such person would charge some thousand swiss franks per year to take the full responsibility to act

and, don't forget the 35% swiss withholding tax not only on dividens but also on any FUND TRANSFER OUT OF THE COMPANY... of course recollectable (in full or part depending on the specific tax treaty between switzerland and your country of residence) if possible

don't think a public board is the right place to discuss such personal, not to say intimate, questions/projects
 
#42
Martin Everson said:
Glarus? Have you ever been there? There is absolutely nothing there but sheep and mountains. It's high up and is completely dead end.



Yes there minimums and for some its very small.

https://www.ezycount.ch/en/tax-calculation/
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Martin Everson said:
Glarus? Have you ever been there? There is absolutely nothing there but sheep and mountains. It's high up and is completely dead end.



Yes there minimums and for some its very small.

https://www.ezycount.ch/en/tax-calculation/
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Martin Everson said:
Glarus? Have you ever been there? There is absolutely nothing there but sheep and mountains. It's high up and is completely dead end.



Yes there minimums and for some its very small.

https://www.ezycount.ch/en/tax-calculation/
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the remark concerning "taxation on 200 and 800 paid out as dividend" is not correct... it stipulates that the source of income - 1'000'000 - is a) connected to certain conditions (patentbox etc.) and, MORE IMPORTANT, that any divided is charged with a WITHHOLDING TAX OF 35% (= 280'000 on 800'000) to be paid onto the account of the national swiss tax authority... if there is a working tax trety with your country of residence you could be able to get back this tax either full or in part... depending on the treaty

... not extremely attractive, imho
 
#43
Martin Everson said:
Glarus? Have you ever been there? There is absolutely nothing there but sheep and mountains. It's high up and is completely dead end.
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No, I haven’t. But it’s kind of a given that it’s the least attractive places that have the most attractive tax rates. I only chose it for the sake of the argument.

The tax calculator you mentioned doesn’t support taxation of qualifying dividends.
 
#44
ffbkdavid said:
to run a swiss company, being a "full" one or the branch office of a foreign company you need, apart from a registered office address, at least ONE swiss or eu citizen (individual, no service companes) RESIDING IN THE COUNTRY...
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I think there was a misunderstanding. This whole thread was about personally residing in Switzerland. No need to hire anyone.

Yes, my explanation was incorrect because I forgot about federal taxes, where the deduction is much lower. And the law also has been changed in the meantime.
The 35% WHT however shouldn’t be an issue - as far as I understood, as a Swiss tax resident, you get a full refund for the 35%, provided that you declare and pay the correct amount of taxes. They only take the 35% to make sure you don’t pay too little tax and give you an incentive to declare everything correctly.
 
#45
ffbkdavid said:
if you can recommend a - any - swiss service provider being active for your branch for chf 1,000... please post his name and address... have some dozen of clients interested in such an unique chance
Click to expand...

This one for example

gbsXJU.jpg
 
#46
From my understanding a branch office in Switzerland is taxed where the parent company is. In effect works like an LLP there are some disbursement.

Cost is the issue it's about 20K per year running costs including local agent fees.

Double check this or does someone have any knowledge of it.
 
#49
I read it all and I still didn't understand if this hypothetical setup is just to avoid paying the income tax as employee, while still residing in Switzerland (or not?). What is the yearly volume we are speaking of?
I have a swiss GmbH and a UAE IBC invoicing the swiss entity. Place of residence is however what matters
 
#50
A branch office is always taxed like a local company. There are only some very minor differences to setting up a local company (subsidiary). The only real difference is that a branch is not a separate legal entity. But for tax purposes, this is largely irrelevant.
 
#51
JustAnotherNomad said:
I think there was a misunderstanding. This whole thread was about personally residing in Switzerland. No need to hire anyone.

Yes, my explanation was incorrect because I forgot about federal taxes, where the deduction is much lower. And the law also has been changed in the meantime.
The 35% WHT however shouldn’t be an issue - as far as I understood, as a Swiss tax resident, you get a full refund for the 35%, provided that you declare and pay the correct amount of taxes. They only take the 35% to make sure you don’t pay too little tax and give you an incentive to declare everything correctly.
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there is NO deduction on FEDERAL taxes at all
 
#53
JustAnotherNomad said:
A branch office is always taxed like a local company. There are only some very minor differences to setting up a local company (subsidiary). The only real difference is that a branch is not a separate legal entity. But for tax purposes, this is largely irrelevant.
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totally wrong... a branch office under swiss corporate law is treated as FULLY LEGAL ENTITY... it's "independence" from the head company must be specifically confirmed in writinge in a declaration that has to become filed at the trade register the branch is registered at

the main "advantage" is that no minimal capital has to become paid in when being registered as a branch
 
#55
ffbkdavid said:
totally wrong... a branch office under swiss corporate law is treated as FULLY LEGAL ENTITY...
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Sure it’s a legal entity. It’s identical with the “parent“ company:

“A Swiss branch does not have a separate legal personality but still has to be registered with the Swiss Companies Register. Unlike a subsidiary, the branch is easier to incorporate and does not require a minimum share capital.”
https://www.companyformationswitzerland.com/establish-a-branch-in-switzerland
I do admit my Switzerland-specific “knowledg is entirely based on Google. But in general, a branch office is not a separate legal entity. So it would be surprising if Switzerland was different in that regard. Of course the branch is a legal entity and can enter into contracts, but the “parent” company will always be held liable - since they are the same company. A subsidiary, on the other hand, is a completely separate company.
 
#56
Just take Cyprus or UAE residency and live in Swiss or whatever without registration.
Actually if you are not Swiss national no one will be interested to spy on you or check. It's the same with other countries like Spain, Italy, Greece etc. There are people living with Cyprus or UAE residencies without registering at tax administration or local council. They are not nationals and they don't use local bank accounts..
In Schengen is very hard to check were you actually live. It's just your home country (citizenship country) is checking very detail flights etc..
Many people have apartments in different countries around europe. If you are not national locally, tax authority would not knock on your door. It can be your holiday home.. etc It's just important for you to be tax resident in some other country to show evidence
 
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#57
JustAnotherNomad said:
a branch office is not a separate legal entity
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Of course it is not a separate legal entity.

Konstanz said:
There are people living with Cyprus or UAE residencies without registering at tax administration or local council.
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How can you do something like that in Swiss? You need to have a permit to stay in Swiss over 90 days. How could you live there without a permit while renting an apartment?
 
#58
Konstanz said:
Just take Cyprus or UAE residency and live in Swiss or whatever without registration.
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No, I don’t want to break the law.
The company is also very strict, they probably have their own compliance department, and they have also already signaled that they might need to hire me as an employee after all to comply with Swiss social security regulation. I’ve thought about it some more and the lack of flexibility and the high costs just don’t make it worthwhile - and then the taxes come on top.
I do like Switzerland and maybe I’ll move there when I’m older and have kids. But for now I really like my nomadic lifestyle.
It was a fun thought experiment though.
 
#60
JustAnotherNomad said:
No, I don’t want to break the law.
The company is also very strict, they probably have their own compliance department, and they have also already signaled that they might need to hire me as an employee after all to comply with Swiss social security regulation. I’ve thought about it some more and the lack of flexibility and the high costs just don’t make it worthwhile - and then the taxes come on top.
I do like Switzerland and maybe I’ll move there when I’m older and have kids. But for now I really like my nomadic lifestyle.
It was a fun thought experiment though.
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I understand this is for a kind of consultant job. Your client could contract another company in Switzerland (foreign also, but swiss are paranoid) if they prefer and this company can simply pay you out. Residency status is then a separate issue you may or may not want to sort out. This way you would not have all the constraints of being an employee.
 
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