Changing canton: how much tax a move really saves

The reference date decides: 31 December

The most important rule first: for the income tax of a year, your residence on 31 December counts. Anyone living in canton A at the end of the year is taxed by canton A for the whole year — even if the move only happened in November.

From this follows a simple optimisation: if a move to a cheaper canton is planned anyway, a date before the turn of the year can lower the whole year’s tax bill. Conversely: anyone moving to a more expensive canton is better off, for tax, postponing the move to January.

For the capital-benefits tax (for example when drawing pillar 3a or the pension fund), the same principle applies — the residence at the time of the payout is decisive.

How large are the differences really?

The range is considerable. For a taxable income of CHF 100,000 (single), more than CHF 10,000 per year separate the cheapest and the most expensive cantonal capital. Over ten years, this adds up to a six-figure sum.

But beware the shortcut “cheapest canton = best choice”: the comparison is always worth doing for your concrete income and marital status, because the ranking shifts. A canton with a flat schedule is attractive for high incomes, hardly for low ones. The cantonal tax comparison shows you the ranking for your figures — and the individual canton pages link to details per canton.

Don’t forget the municipality

The canton is only half the calculation. Within a canton, municipalities apply very different multipliers — in large cantons such as Bern or Zurich, the cheapest and the most expensive municipality differ by more than double the municipal multiplier.

Concretely: a move from the city to a tax-favourable neighbouring municipality in the same canton can bring almost as much as changing canton — without leaving your social and professional environment. Our canton pages each show the cheapest and the most expensive municipality of the canton.

The counter-calculation: housing costs

Low taxes come at a price. The most tax-favourable cantons and municipalities — Zug, parts of Schwyz and Nidwalden, the Zurich lakeside communities — are among the most expensive residential locations in Switzerland. The tax saving there is effectively rerouted into the rent or purchase price.

So calculate honestly: subtract the additional housing costs from your expected annual tax saving. Only when a clear advantage remains at the bottom line — and it also offsets the one-off moving costs within a few years — is the move sensible for tax. For high incomes this calculation works out more often than for middle ones.

How to go about it

1. Establish the status quo: what do you pay today? Use the cantonal tax comparison with your taxable income.
2. Compare destinations: examine not only cantons but concrete municipalities.
3. Weigh the housing costs: research rents or purchase prices at the target location.
4. Plan the reference date: with a saving, place the move before the turn of the year.

Note: general information, not tax or legal advice. The assessments of the cantons involved are authoritative; for a move across the cantonal border, intercantonal tax law settles jurisdiction.