Contracting in Basel

[Macaco]

So that's £650-£1k per day to travel to work in the world's most expensive country and paying income tax as a resident ?

That is what is putting me off to some degree - maybe £1k per day less Swiss social charges, less 40-45% income UK tax, less £2.5-3k rent, less extortionate food and general living expenses, less £35 per day just for a payroll company to give me my money less taxes...plus large accountancy fees trying to sort out the dual taxation mess.

On the other hand it could be a good experience for the family, the London contract market isn't great at the moment, rates seem to be going one way and it's not up and rent is also £2.5k per month on the outskirts.

Not such as simple one way decision as it seems, although financially I expect there would be no gain going there and perhaps even a loss vs London.

[Boo]

CHF

So that's £650-£1k per day to travel to work in the world's most expensive country and paying income tax as a resident ?

Not me...

Boo2

[NotAllThere]

CHF or GBP ?

Boo

CHF

For Tableau though 1000+

[Boo]

800-1300

CHF or GBP ?

Boo

[Macaco]

For the OP. Without some indication of technology and sector and your level of experience, it's impossible to talk about market rates.

800-1300

Tech = Reporting (Qlik/Tableau) which also means database architecture for optimal retrieval for reporting and business requirement interpretation (what they actually want and are likely to want in future, not what they say they think they want). Hybrid business/tech is what I do.
Sector = Financial Services
Experience = a lot, more than 99% of people out there in this new-ish area

[Eirikur]

CHF 950 per day is the absolute minimum to have a comfortable life in Switzerland. everythingis very expensive, not just alittle bitmore expensive, but a lot more expensive

If you can live across the border in Germany, do that, it will save you fortunes.

[NotAllThere]

For the OP. Without some indication of technology and sector and your level of experience, it's impossible to talk about market rates.

800-1300

[stek]

There's some kind of work going on at the airport. Not sure what it is though. Recently they shut the Swiss side and had soldiers all over the place. No word in the media to explain what it was about.

Most of the employees are French. They do usually speak German though - doesn't Mrs Stek have that?

When I've had to deal with officialdom at the airport, I have noticed a marked sense of relief from them when I indicate that I can speak French. For some obscure reason, these people working at the corner of France/Switzerland/Germany just aren't fluent in English.

That was the case when we were there, closed bits and armed proper soldiers patrolling.

Mrs Stek's German is impeccable, but honestly everyone seemed to speak French only! Was worth it just to see her struggling lol! She has almost zero French and I only have schoolboy so I had the upper hand. Little victories! Everything seemed closed apart from two restaurants. Saw a Lockheed Super Constellation on the tarmac though, bonus.

I was convince we drove up to some tiny provincial airport, seems so like non-international......

[NotAllThere]

There's some kind of work going on at the airport. Not sure what it is though. Recently they shut the Swiss side and had soldiers all over the place. No word in the media to explain what it was about.

Most of the employees are French. They do usually speak German though - doesn't Mrs Stek have that?

When I've had to deal with officialdom at the airport, I have noticed a marked sense of relief from them when I indicate that I can speak French. For some obscure reason, these people working at the corner of France/Switzerland/Germany just aren't fluent in English.

[stek]

We had a terrible time in Basel Airport, seemed 90% shut and the current Mrs stek, who speaks several languages fluently, and I mean fluently, almost native, totally struggled cos French isn't one of them and all the staff seemed to be French with no other language. Never seen her struggle to get understood, was dead funny!

She was asking for the bill and I shouted to her 'L'addition!' and this French couple near me said to me 'See, it's easy'. That was the sum total of their assistance in the matter.

Fukn Frogs....

[FatLazyContractor]

Life is too short to live and work in CH.

Leave it to people like NAT, will ya?!

[NotAllThere]

The worst places are Pratteln and Birsfelden. But even those are better than most places in the UK.

Binningen, Bottmingen, Therwil, Oberwil, Ettingen, Muttenz, Münchestein are probably the better places. Of those, Binningen has the lowest taxes, and is also closest to Basel city. But hardest to find somewhere.

[Lance]

I don't know where is good to live and where's better to avoid.

From my experience of Switzerland (not Basel admittedly) there isn't anywhere to avoid really. Unless of course you object to a brothel next door. At that point you may want to look before you rent as they tend not to advertise that.

[NotAllThere]

Can I refer you to my answer on englishforum.ch?

Forget about a fully furnished house. They are few and far between and very expensive.

[Macaco]

What's a good day rate in Basel to live comfortably and support a family? In London I could get 700/day but rent for a house big enough for the family (3 kids) and close enough to a good state school is extortionate so we've jumped ship and are looking at alternatives elsewhere. There might be an opportunity in Basel but before mentioning the rate provisionally talked about I prefer to have an idea about what market rates are like there and what is realistic to achieve.

Note I would need to rent a 4 bed house, preferably fully furnished, in an area within an easy trip right to the centre of Basel and am not sure what that would cost as I don't know the areas there. I've seen amounts but without knowing the areas I don't know where is good to live and where's better to avoid.