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Swiss GmbH and AG or other company type new capital requirements?

diablo

Pro Member
Feb 23, 2017
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Hello,

I was wondering what Capital requirements there are for a Sitzerland GmbH and AG and if there are any other types like Cerotax or Einzelfirma available?

I plan to move permanent to Switzerland for some time and want to establish my business there with the lowest possible corporate and personal tax as possible.

Is there anyone who has experinece with that?

Your help is much appreciated.
 
There is also Swiss Companies « Evertrust which I contacted back in 2012 they are not very friendly on e-mails but at least they try to answer your questions!

Not sure if anything has changed in Switzerland in regards to the share capital, but as it was when I looked into it, paid up share capital is CHF 20,000 for GMBH and CHF 100,000 for AG you only pay 0,002% corporate tax if you place the company with someone in ZUG or Zürch as far as I understand the whole thing.
 
Thanks Guys, keep the information coming, I have found the below:
swiss-income-tax-married.webp


and here
swiss-income-tax-single.webp


Looks to me it is ZUG and the no. 2 and 3 town canton that is the best here to live in an setup a Company :)
 
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Have you ever been to Zug?
If you make less than one million CHF each year, you'll feel like a loser there.
This is a place for very rich people only. A small house costs several millions, but that hardly matters because you will not have the right to buy one. Nor to work, nor to live there. Creating a company doesn't give you any right to live in Switzerland. You may fill forms for residency when registering your company, but there's no guarantee you'll get a positive answer. Actually, it will surely be rejected if you have a small business.
 
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Is there any other town where it is easier to apply for residency? I have a few friends that actually moved to Zürich and told me it wasn't so difficult? I'm just curious.
 
I just did another check and looked deeper into it, this website Limited Liability Company Switzerland - STARTUPS.CH seems by far to be the best provider of Swiss company formation, the online process is easy and it explains all details step by step. I would recommend you to contact the guys and appoint a meeting if you are serious.
great suggestion.. I got a quote from a provider like the below :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
The timelines for incorporating a company are approx 2 weeks - opening of a bank account can take anywhere from 1 week to several months depending on the profile of the business and shareholder and we do recommend that we make an early approach to a bank to gain an "in-principle" approval prior to incorporation . Due to the time and effort involved in this process we do require payment of a retainer of CHF 1,500 prior to approaching the bank on your behalf. If the account is approved and the company incorporated this is treated as part of the incorporation costs.
Cost estimates
One Time Incorporation Costs

Company Incorporation CHF 4,900 (Includes Notary and Commercial Registry Fees)
Post incorporation set- up costs CHF 2,250 (Bank account application, accounting mandate set –up, compliance etc)
Total CHF 7,150
On going services (Annual Costs)

Nominee Director CHF 5,000 p.a
Provision of Registered Office &
Virtual Office Services CHF 2,500 p.a.
Preparation of Annual Accounts &
Preparation and filing of Corporation
Tax Return CHF 2,340 p.a
Accounting Services
(base cost < 10 transactions per month) CHF 2,880 p.a.
Annual AGM & Documentation CHF 720 p.a
Misc CHF 900 p.a.
Total Annual Costs CHF 14,340 p.a

That's a lot of Money compared to the link from startups.ch !!!
 
Everything is expensive in Switzerland, with Zug the most expensive since (I believe) it's the wealthiest canton. The CEO of Glencore famously lives there. In the list above, I would bet there is an extra fee to incorporate in Zurich or Zug. That's not a deal-breaker to anyone, though. There is a substantial, and growing, population of expats in Zurich, but they're not the kind of people who ask for free advice on the web.

A good free advice is to check the price of renting an apartment there. This is very indicative of what's life like, in Zurich.
 
Well, I checked what appartments costs and there is nothing that chocks me! You can rent a nice department for CHF 2400 which is OK , I already checked what other Insurance etc. I need and it all fits into my budget.

The question still apply! Why does startup.ch charge 799 for setup of a Swiss corp and the other Guys charge 14,300 CHF ??? thats a hell of a difference eek¤%&
 
I'd do the same. I've closed my Swiss business. Switzerland is not what it used to be. My bank even raised its fee for account holder with a foreign address. There was no fee a few years ago...
 
You do not want to form a new company (AG) in Switzerland as the incorporation docs will show the UBO. (UBO will be known for GmbH anyway).

You want to acquire a (newly) ready-made company (AG) from a Treuhand, that has no trading history (so no liabilities), you can than also use the Treuhand as you nominee director.

You can also buy a 'second hand' AG, but you will have to do a due dilligence and will run the risk of back taxes or social security tax claims.
 
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Cost estimates
One Time Incorporation Costs

Company Incorporation CHF 4,900 (Includes Notary and Commercial Registry Fees)
Post incorporation set- up costs CHF 2,250 (Bank account application, accounting mandate set –up, compliance etc)
Total CHF 7,150

On going services (Annual Costs)

Nominee Director CHF 5,000 p.a
Provision of Registered Office &
Virtual Office Services CHF 2,500 p.a.
Preparation of Annual Accounts &
Preparation and filing of Corporation
Tax Return CHF 2,340 p.a
Accounting Services
(base cost < 10 transactions per month) CHF 2,880 p.a.
Annual AGM & Documentation CHF 720 p.a
Misc CHF 900 p.a.
Total Annual Costs CHF 14,340 p.a

That's a lot of Money compared to the link from startups.ch !!!

Apples and Oranges.

startups.ch only charges you 799 for the incorporation, the quote above raises that to 4,900, that is a ripoff.

2250 for opening a bank account also is 'expensive', you can get a business bank account relatively easy if you choose a smaller bank. (so NO UBS, CS, ZKB)

The runing cost however are reasonable: 5000 for a director, 2500 for a virtual office, accounting is expensive (they should be able to do the tax-return inclusive for the price.)

AGM is 1 hour of expenses. the misc 900 is pure profit :)

I'm sure they will find way to bill you for incidentals during that year.

If you want to get a Swiss AG do not use a "incorporation mill" from googles 1st page. Find a local smaller swiss accountant/truehand and have them do it for half the price. (they probably do it for the "mill" also.)
 
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AG will be too much Capital to bind to the Company GMBH is what I look into at the moment. So I also need to find out what cantone will be the best to move ot less expensive less taxes. ZUG is defiantly too expensive even they only pay 1% tax there :D
 
(Or buy a old AG for about 15k)
What do you mean by this? That I can buy a ready-made AG for 15K and avoid to pay in the share capital of 100k ?

Do you know if that is the case, if I have to pay in the 100k share capital at any later time?

And I assume the 15K is the fee to acquire the corp.