Reply to: Minimum daily rate in Zurich you would accept

[Brussels Slumdog]

Only swiss companies can invoice Swiss companies for salaries

Just curious, if I were to drop for a 5day training in .ch would I still have to do that through payroll company or is it just for 'disguised employees'?

The problem is that you need a swiss employer or payroll company to invoice the client. If the end client has another european subsidiary then they could send you to CH to provide the training

A payroll company maybe willing to invoice the end client less commision and no questions asked.
Whether you declare one weeks work in the UK is up to You.

[The Spartan]

If you have more than 1500, than you have to prove it. You can claim it before 1ste March . In my case I went home almost every week.

rgds,
justme

Did you actually make any money while you were there?

[yasockie]

Just curious, if I were to drop for a 5day training in .ch would I still have to do that through payroll company or is it just for 'disguised employees'?

[stek]

My payroll company deducted a pension of 3500 a month and provided me with an equivalent of a P45
Gross less pension and I declared that amount less my expenses which the Belgians accepted but Belgian double taxation is not the same as the UK
Why won't the UK allow commuting and hotel expenses in europe

Cross-border worker? Would be against the EEA rules for the UK to disallow it - think it;s a G-Permit in CH...

[Brussels Slumdog]

Deductions

Nearly forgot ... HMRC will still consider you UK tax resident so you'll have to give them another 20% of your salary. The double tax treaty only means HMRC deduct the tax you paid to the Swiss - and that doesn't include the medical, pension

...... and HMRC won't let you deduct any expenses in the same way that you can't deduct your normal commuting costs in the UK.

.... so unless you can satisfy the non resident criteria, you will be shafted .... and short term gig implies less than 186 days so immediae shaft there :-)

My payroll company deducted a pension of 3500 a month and provided me with an equivalent of a P45
Gross less pension and I declared that amount less my expenses which the Belgians accepted but Belgian double taxation is not the same as the UK
Why won't the UK allow commuting and hotel expenses in europe

[JustMe]

Thanks that's made me a little less aprehensive about going there

If you have more than 1500, than you have to prove it. You can claim it before 1ste March . In my case I went home almost every week.

rgds,
justme

[The Spartan]

Yes the 1500 CHF expat expenses is the norm through a payroll company.

Thanks that's made me a little less aprehensive about going there

[BlasterBates]

Yes the 1500 CHF expat expenses is the norm through a payroll company.

[The Spartan]

Well actually you can offset 1500 CHF a month as expenses, you need to have some proof like a mortgage or a rental agreement to prove you have a second home. I wouldn't exclude the possibility of offsetting more than that, but 1500 is the norm. You don't actually have to put in your expenses every month you just get 1500 CHF tax free.

Sorry to appear simple but how is it you're able to do that? I'll be using a payroll company apparently

[BlasterBates]

Apologies I didn't actually phrase the question correctly, What I meant to say was when working in Switzerland are you able to reclaim all your expenses just like you're able to do in the UK for things like food, accommodation and travel etc?

Well actually you can offset 1500 CHF a month as expenses, you need to have some proof like a mortgage or a rental agreement to prove you have a second home. I wouldn't exclude the possibility of offsetting more than that, but 1500 is the norm. You don't actually have to put in your expenses every month you just get 1500 CHF tax free.

[The Spartan]

Apologies I didn't actually phrase the question correctly, What I meant to say was when working in Switzerland are you able to reclaim all your expenses just like you're able to do in the UK for things like food, accommodation and travel etc?

[BlasterBates]

With regards to whether you pay tax in the UK .....not if your contract extends beyond 6 months, or you get an extension beyond 6 months, regardless of whether you're UK tax resident.

There is an exception to the DTA which means normally your income is taxed only once.

But yes you will be paying UK tax on top of your Swiss tax for a short term contract. YOu should take some advice from a reputable accountant. You could consider deregistering so that you would be UK non-resident from day one, and provided you can work for in Switzerland for a year then there would be no question about double tax.

If you're living in Switzerland just during the week you can find a cheap hotel in Zürich for example for CHF 80 a night, small appartment (one room, with bathroom, kitchen) you can pick up for 1000-1200 CHF on the outskirts eg. near the airport.

I would consider anything above CHF 600 a day (bare minimum), 800 would be fine, 1000 would be great but pushing it I reckon, and do your sums as to whether that's acceptable, i.e. check prices of flights and so on.

Account for 65-70% take home, and obviously go for contracts which will extend beyond 6 months.


As an example a couple of flats going not far from the airport and good connections to Zürich for just over 1200 CHF.

http://www.homegate.ch/mieten/wohnun...h&ah=1300&tr=2

For 1700 you can get a 4 bedroomed flat in that area.

If you were to move to Zürich you'd want something like that. Also look for flats near where you're working.

[The Spartan]

This thread makes very interesting reading, do you know if you can reclaim your expenses like you're able to in the UK?

[jeremytaxman]

OMG if he comes her for 600chf per day he will be absolutely miserable. Accept nothing less than 800 minimum and 1000 is reasonable to ask for a short contract in this climate. I know it sounds like alot but it doesn't go far.

I know plenty of guys who've been suckered into starting here on a low rate ...... only to leave immediately after finding a gig back in the UK.

But my top tip is make sure you speak the language of the project - banks are often English and no problem, but its very isolating if colleagues speak Swiss German in an ordinary company and only talk English to you when they have to. Amazingly even Germans have problems.

If you are single and without UK ties then definately give it a shot, otherwise think about what you lose rather then the little you gain .... and good luck finding somewhere to live ...

[BlasterBates]

Provided you´re contract is longer than 6 months you won´t be taxed again in the UK. Check the DTA. You do need advice, tax authorities, not just the UK, often make mistakes and charge too much tax. The general principle of the the DTA is that you only pay once, then there are exceptions. For countries with which the UK doesn´t have a double taxation treaty they demand the difference. There is a rather strange exception with Swiss income in that you have to be resident there for over 6 months before they will allow you to earn without extra deductions.

I pay approx CHF 1100 for my flat in Zürich. You can buy big things in Germany, furniture and so on, about an hours drive from Zürich.

I agree with Chef go for 600 or more, 600 will give you about 8.5 CHF grand take home. If it´s a short contract although you will be taxed again, I would expect a higher take home for a short stay, as you wouldn´t be subject to annual tax rates.

I don´t know what the take home would be for a short stay, but I would expect it to be higher than 70%.