Greetings! I stumbled upon this forum while searching info to solve the dilemma in which I currently find myself. I read this thread, but I am still quite confused, and would be grateful for any advice for my specific situation.

I am an Italian citizen. My fiancé moved to Switzerland last year, upon obtaining a research position in Ticino. We'll be getting married some time soon so I decided to move to Switzerland with him.

I haven't had any problem with requesting a B permit to live with him, which I did this month. Unfortunately my problems have arisen when I mentioned to the lady at the immigration office that, while I economically dependent on my fiancé, I do occasionally work as a freelancing writer or translator.

Until I lived in Italy I had no problem doing freelancing jobs. All my collaborations of this kind are legally declared and I pay taxes on them.
It's a job in which I enjoy lots of freedom, in that I work from home and I only accept fews commissions, so it is not really the equivalent of a full-time job.

Unfortunately, the lady told me I cannot work from my home in Switzerland like this. She says that in order to I need to write a business plan and that I can't do any work until this plan is approved. I tried to explain to her that it is not a "business", but just occasional and temporary contracts but she didn't seem to be very familiar with this kind of scenario.

So, could anybody please tell me if I really need to go through a complete business plan as if I were starting a company? I am puzzled because I may stop doing any freelancing work any time. I don't know for sure if next month I'll be getting commissions and even in case I do if I will accept them. I may find a "regular" job or perhaps decide to take a break from work altogether.

This may not sound professional, I know, but actually, this is my current frame of mind. I want to focus on my family, not start a business!
At the same time, I've been building a name in my field. For example, I am now a regular contributor to an international magazine, and I don't want to give that up. Also, I've been working on a novel for the past few months which will be published this spring by a Belgian publisher and based on what the lady told me, I infer that I can't sign the contract for my book until my business plan is approved!

Is that really so? Can't I write a book in Switzerland without presenting a business plan first?
As I said, I don't want to start a real lucrative activity. I have been a full-time writer for a few years, I am in contact with a few major publishers, but now my future plans are simply to slow down, publish just a book or two a year, and do some commissioned work every now and then, when I feel like it, but nothing more.

Do I need a serious business plan for this? Any advice?

Thank you in advance!

I thought a business plan was only required where somebody applies for a permit as a self-employed person. It's a reasonableness check to test whether the business is viable and can be expected to support you. If you're applying under the family reunion category I'm surprised this is necessary since your fiancé will have to agree to support you financially. Once you're in, if your permit allows you to work, then a business plan shouldn't be necessary. Sounds like the waters are muddied.

it sounds like a bureaucrat who doesn't really know what she's talking about. there is no business plan required to be submitted, much less approved (like they would know a good one if they saw one anyway).

i can set up a company as long as I have the capital and no government can ask to see my business plan. you just want to freelance, not even set up a company.

i would simply go back to her and tell her that she misunderstood. you do nothing and intend to do nothing but live off your partner. that should calm her down.

Agreed.

We moved here a while ago and when my wife came over she applied for self-employed status. They told her to go away and come back in 2 months after the bi-lateral trade agreements (May to July in 2002?) had been signed and rubber-stamped her application.

Before the agreement had been signed, she would have needed the business plan. As an EU citizen she did not need is after the agreement.

You should never had said anything. This is a country of secrecy. Don't talk, and there is only a remote chance you will ever be asked. Just say you decided to give up your freelancing and "focus on starting on a family" (they will eat that up). That is where Swiss society believe a woman's place is. Then continue on as usual.

Maybe joining the network Formika could answer your questions

http://www.formika.ch

There is a certain amount of truth in what you were told, in that you will need to pay AHV (pension/unemployment contributions) and complete the Hilfsblatt B (in German) additional to your tax form and to assess if you are eligible for this, evidence is needed.

To confirm that you are self-employed invoices and/or quotations will do just as well as a business plan.

Try searching, it's all been covered here before....

We have just set up our own business.
You get the document called Anmeldung zur Neueintragung einer Einzelfirma. You will find it under Handelsregisteramt in your Kanton.
Complete it (It's not complicated or long) but don't sign it!.
Take it to your local Gemeinde (together with your passport and Permit) and they will verify your signature.Cost 30.-
Then you send it to the address on the form. You should then receive a copy of the Handelsauszug and you are then your own wee company. Cost.approx. 300.-..don't know yet..just waiting for ours.
A word of warning. You may get more than one bill. Only pay the one which comes from the address you sent your application to in the first place. We consulted an accountant to start the company and that is what he advised us. He said to ignore the others or take them to him. You'll need to find your own solution for that.


Yes, you will then be contacted by the AHV and at some point by the tax people.

The way I understand it is that you have to be employed/registered somewhere so that you 'can' pay AHV and taxes. If are not registered you would be working illegally. It's a pain but it's partly what makes CH what it is.

It's the same if you worked in Britain. If you did any kind of work and didn't pay taxes you'd be committing fraud.

Good luck

Thank you everybody for the kind answers. Appreciated!

The reason why I mentioned it to her was because I wanted to be perfectly honest: if I am going to earn any money I do want to pay taxes on it, just as I did back in Italy.

However, I realise she wasn't the person I should have spoken to about it, because it is not pertinent to her area of expertise, and actually it did not really concern her. I only made things more complicated and needlessly so by talking to her. Ugh.

In fact I discussed the matter with some other people and they all agreed that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding and that at any rate it is unreasonable to expect a person to submit a business plan and start a company only to be authorized to publish a book! Any person, no matter their occupation can publish a book, as long as a publisher is interested enough in it.

So I got in touch with a few accountants in hope there is at least one familiar with issues pertaining to the publishing field and how freelancers are dealt with in Switzerland. Translators and writers are typically freelancers, so there must be a way they are allowed to exist in Swiss bureaucracy.

Also, I plan to get in touch with a local journalist via a common friend, as somebody who works in the field will be the best person to provide me with some advice and instruct me about how and what I should do, I guess.

I suppose a business plan makes sense if somebody is going to start a serious lucrative activity, but this is not my case. I might just accept a translation commission or write an article every now and then, but even so I may stop anytime. As strange as it may sound I do not want to work at the moment and be a stay at home parent. But I do want to pay taxes on anything I may earn, if I do.

Is there some kind of "threshold"? For instance, in Italy while compelled to officially declare all your incomes if you earn less than a certain threshold (I think it's something around 2,000 euros per year) your taxes are basically inexistent (because the amount of money you earned is ridiculous, an average income would be that much money in one month, not one year!). Is there something similiar in Switzerland too?

Basically yes. Speak to a tax accountant about it.

The gist of it is: if you don't earn enough then the authorities will view it as "pocket money". What this means (as I understand it) in real terms is that while you won't be taxed for it, you also cannot deduct expenses.

If you do earn over the threshold, then you can deduct business expenses.

As I said earlier, you don't need a business plan to be a freelancer, especially if you have a partner/husband with a job.

Check fully with a tax accountant though as they will tell you the limits both for income and expenses (e.g. car use, house/room etc.).