London vs Zurich

[NotAllThere]

The skiing is closer to Zürich than London.

If live, say, a 20 minute train ride from Zürich main railway station, and rent a pad there, even with the additional cost of a General Abo (which gives you unlimited travel over most public transport in CH), you'll probably be saving quite a bit over the cost of renting in Zürich. You might also find the taxes are lower.

( www.comparis.ch to compare tax rates from town to town ).

You might also like to check out www.englishforum.ch

[tenpin]

Zurich is much better than London to live in and airport is right in the city. You can go swimming in the Lake from work etc..

I used to live in Hongg ("Huuuurrnnnk") on the outskirts of Zurich (Number 4 tram), and my flat used to overlook the designated naturist sunbathing area on the river. Very niiiiice...

Go to Zurich. At the very least you get an after dinner conversation. Don't piss off your neighbours, recycle correctly, pay your taxes, follow all the rules and everything will be great.

[orac]

You will pay more tax in Zurich

You will pay more tax in Zurich as you can't use a UK company, outside EU and EEA. You also have to pay a pension, which you can claim back.

If you are smart you shouldn't pay more than 10% tax in UK through Ltd.

Zurich is much better than London to live in and airport is right in the city. You can go swimming in the Lake from work etc..

I wouldn't say accommodation is more expensive than London, you can always share.

Flights, except from SE of England aren't good or cheap.

If I didn't have a family and I was in my 20's/30's I would be off there like a shot.

[Brussels Slumdog]

Your UK residency status

If both contract rates are the same, which would you take?

Basically, what I'm after is which would net the most amount... Assuming that the London contract is not IR35 friendly.
I'm married with 3 kids... and used to travel into London and rent a room there.
Would greatly appreciate any input from any one currently in Zurich?

If your wife and 3 kids remain in the UK then I guess that you remain a UK
tax resident then
Gross income on world wide income equals tax payable in UK less tax paid in
Switzerland.
You can reduce your swiss income by contributing to a pension fund
Ask a UK tax adviser whether you can deduct the cost of commuting between
Switzerland and the UK

I guess the answer to your question is.
If your gross salary less expenses less tax is greater than you could have earned net in the UK
then for pure monetry reasons choose Zurich.

[bobsmithldn]

DeeElvis, I've been contracting in Zurich for the past year - PM me and I'll give you a few tips ...

[DeeElvis]

Cheers Guys!!!

Lewis - I got the contract from JobServe but as luck would have it, the manager I was interviewing for is already employing one of my friends. I was surprised when my friend called me to say he could "help" with the process.

The think the job market is picking up in the last week or so...

[ddilling]

You'll pay much less tax in Zurich, but its a more expensive place to live.

Finding accommodation (and then paying for it) is a nightmare.

I've done Zurich twice - and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Lewis]

Thanks...

btw, I had read all the Zurich related posts on this board. :-)

I had done a few contracts in London previously. Just thought Zurich would be nice change of sceneries.

I'm married with 3 kids... and used to travel into London and rent a room there.

From what I could gather, it seems that IR35 is irrelevant to contracts in Zurich because I am 'forced' to go through a Swiss company.
Am I correct in this respect?

I think I will take the Zurich role.

Cheers.

I'm keen on working in Zurich next year (I have a Swiss wife). Zurich is lovely in my opinion - a lot going for hit - London is getting worse and worse. Out of interest where did you find the contract? And yes as far as I can tell you have to work through an agency/mangement company of some kind - take home about 70%-ish I think.

Here are some links I kept - mixture of stuff about taxes, schools, threads from here, some better than others, the English forum has loads of information on it about everything - e.g. do you take your car over etc..

http://www.englishforum.ch/
http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...-contract.html
http://www.englishforum.ch/family-ma...ls-zurich.html
http://www.independentschools.com/switzerland/
http://en.comparis.ch/immigration/tax/default.aspx
http://www.swissworld.org/en/educati...cation_system/
http://www.circleofschools.ch/en/index.cfm?treeID=31

[DeeElvis]

Thanks...

btw, I had read all the Zurich related posts on this board. :-)

I had done a few contracts in London previously. Just thought Zurich would be nice change of sceneries.

I'm married with 3 kids... and used to travel into London and rent a room there.

From what I could gather, it seems that IR35 is irrelevant to contracts in Zurich because I am 'forced' to go through a Swiss company.
Am I correct in this respect?

I think I will take the Zurich role.

Cheers.

[stingman123]

Zurich, just because this places is a right sh*thole sometimes, the grass is always greener eh?

[northernladuk]

Bearing in mind this is your wage and your life your making a decision on why do you ask stuff like this of a load of strangers.

Why not do a bit of research and I am sure all will become clear. I am sure your aware much of this decision will be based on personal circumstances and you don't give us enough info to help you make a decision. Are you willing to share, rent, hotel, eat bread to keep costs down etc. Where and how often do you have to travel to get home, cost of living out there, is Zurich IR friendly, how long contract etc etc.....

Loads of factors that wouldn't take you long to research but we can't be bothered looking in to so most of the answers you will get rom us is pure guess work.

I would take Zurich cause the name sounds coolers. Hows that?

[DeeElvis]

If both contract rates are the same, which would you take?

Basically, what I'm after is which would net the most amount... Assuming that the London contract is not IR35 friendly.

Would greatly appreciate any input from any one currently in Zurich?