Reply to: contracting in zurich!!

[The Spartan]

You're lucky I have costs here and back home

[NotAllThere]

£550 a day five years ago was about 1200 CHF. Now it's 825CHF. The cost of living in CH hasn't gone down. I could live ok on 825CHF a day (though it's considerably less than my current rate), but I live here, so don't have the same kind of costs.

[The Spartan]

Also bear in mind the rules today have changed from what they once were I found out the hard way

[geoffreywhereveryoumaybe]

Worked in Zurich

a few years ago and I didn't think it was that expensive (comparable to London). However, £550 a day looks low. You need to identify all the expenses you are going to incur and plan out for a number of weeks in the future ie it will get more expensive as we get to Summer. Granted expenses incurred will lower your corporation tax but also your bottom line.

I found the following regular weekly costs, in sterling, and I was prudent.
flight 160
hotel 160 (that is staying at the cheaper end of the market)
airport parking 40
subsistence 50
Zurich travel 25

If they want your skills you should try and get them to allow a bit of flexibility in working arrangements. I negotiated working four days on site every alternate week, the rest working from home. Also bear in mind currency fluctuation as you will probably be paid in local currency which will deteriorate as the pound plummets. Go to one of the flights & hotels site and get quotes for many weeks in advance to see what the cost could be. Sign up to the loyalty scheme with Swissair.

[NotAllThere]

...You arent allowed to do remote working into Switzerland either so you'd have to stay there if you were on call or working overtime

This is not the case.

[Sysman]

worked in zurich last year

nice city but as everyone here says very expensive
try and look at accomodation outside the centre of zurich if possible as it gets quite a bit cheeper
for example schlieren i know its not a great area but its not dangerous and it can be quite a bit cheeper with good train links to central zurich

one of the guys i was working with paid 2k chf for a studio near langstrasse (basically the red light district ) and thought he got a good deal ! because it is central zurich, albeit the seedy side

When I first started in Zurich I got a very nice 2 bedroom apartment for just less than CHF 2K, but further out than Schlieren. I would have had to pay more like 2.5 to 3K for a similar place in Zurich. If you are living outside Zurich your best bet is to look for places where the express trains stop. 15 minutes by express to Zurich from where I live versus 30 minutes on the stop-everywhere trains. If I lived one stop in either direction I'd be stuck with the slow trains.

It might be hard to find a spot for only 6 months though.

[gibbsville]

worked in zurich last year

nice city but as everyone here says very expensive
try and look at accomodation outside the centre of zurich if possible as it gets quite a bit cheeper
for example schlieren i know its not a great area but its not dangerous and it can be quite a bit cheeper with good train links to central zurich

one of the guys i was working with paid 2k chf for a studio near langstrasse (basically the red light district ) and thought he got a good deal ! because it is central zurich, albeit the seedy side

[The Spartan]

It is wateringly expensive and competition for accommodation is fierce, it's a nice enough city but nothing to rave about. Check your figures and then triple check them if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't be here, take home will be about 65-70% after deductions you have to use a Swiss payroll company while contracting here there's no real way around it. Try not to use Tresag I've found them to be utter tulipe

[Thejacka1]

I have been offerred a 6 months ( though potentially can go longer) in zurich for around £550 a day.

I want to gauge the opinions whether is it worth ( no nothing about swiss tax system or DTA etc) taking this up?

- am planning to stay in a hotel /1bed flat
- flying back home every week, got a young family.

What is the general opinion? I know it is ultimately upto me to decide whether to take it or not.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!

-- nandoo

It is very expensive to live in Switzerland, but Zurich is less so than Geneva.

If you plan to fly every week to see your family check out the time and cost of flights from your local airport. The costs are steep late on Friday and first thing Monday so that will eat into your bottom line.

You arent allowed to do remote working into Switzerland either so you'd have to stay there if you were on call or working overtime

[kknandoo]

Thanks for the info. will have to find about the tax details.

apparently a one bed flat could cost around 1300 -1500 CHF. as you said need to work out whether is worth taking up the offer if can't make enough savings.

Zurich is VERY expensive to live in. Also you really need to look into the Tax situation. I've never worked there but, I've been told you'll need to be on some kind of Swiss payroll(not sure you allowed to work through your Uk LTD)As another poster has said there's quite a lot of info for contracting on in Switerzland on here so just do some research. £550 dose sound quite low to make any decent margins once all your costs are taken care of

[kknandoo]

Thanks for the link boss!! chill!!

no need to freak!!!

Have been checking the other posts as well and the search resulted in this useful link -

http://www.contractoruk.com/overseas...money_tax.html

Why the ******* hell do people not do a search. This has been asked 3 times this week alone.

Go read the thread below on how to search and do a bit of self research....

http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

[sirja]

Zurich is VERY expensive to live in. Also you really need to look into the Tax situation. I've never worked there but, I've been told you'll need to be on some kind of Swiss payroll(not sure you allowed to work through your Uk LTD)As another poster has said there's quite a lot of info for contracting on in Switerzland on here so just do some research. £550 dose sound quite low to make any decent margins once all your costs are taken care of

[Diver]

Why the ******* hell do people not do a search. This has been asked 3 times this week alone.

Go read the thread below on how to search and do a bit of self research....

http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

So what exactly are your thoughts on the matter?

[northernladuk]

Why the ******* hell do people not do a search. This has been asked 3 times this week alone.

Go read the thread below on how to search and do a bit of self research....

http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

[oracleslave]

Are any expenses billable to the client? £550 is pretty low for Switzerland imo. Cost of living is eye wateringly expensive. Have you checked flight and hotel costs for the area?