Hi,
I have just arrived to Zurich and first I would like to thank you for this great forum. Extremely useful and practical!
I am Polish and I have come to join my wife in Switzerland. She is from Lebanon and works as a scientist with permit L.
I would like to work on my own from home as private investor. At least at the beginning, I will not have any customers and will invest only my own capital.
Can you please help me to find the best, tax efficient way to do it?
Should I ask for a self-employed visa (I am self-made trader and do not have any diplomas confirming my education in this field).
Or, would it be better to become a houseman and then declare my earnings for taxes together with my wife?

Thanks a lot for any advice!
Have a great day!

I am not sure exactly what you mean as a "Private Investor".
If you mena that you trade shares or are a day trader on the internet; then you would have a share trading account with dedicated account in that country (USA say) and would only have to tranbsfer monies to your account in switzerland if you needed the money. Then I would be inclinced to just get on with it and be a houseman and declare what you need to (i.e. what you brought into Switzerland.
If you are playing it big, then you could use a foreign company to loose some of the monies/taxes.

I am not completely sure either what you want to do, but if it is your own money, then as a "houseman" it goes under investment income -- remember you and your wife file together and tax assessment is based on your worldwide income and assets (vermögen in German) in Switzerland. Not all investment income is equal in the eyes of the tax law as you may know.

But if you want to use other people's money, then that's an issue and you will have to have liability and a real company GmbH, not be self-employed. It is one thing to be a self-employed salesperson for the great big Assets and Insurances companies here, and another thing to be handling other people's money (thinking of Bernie Madoff here sorry, nothing personal).

Consider speaking to a lawyer or tax advisor!

Thanks a lot Cashboy and BruceFan.
I think I will listen to you and contact a tax advisor or a lawyer as I do not know the tax low in Switzerland at all.
I trade mostly futures on commodities based on an US account.
If I do it as a "houseman" I guess I cannot write any costs related to my work to reduce the taxes?
Otherwise, can I really declare only what transfer to my account in Switzerland? Or the taxes are rather based on the total amount I have earned over the year?

Thank you for your help!!!

Then you have a trading account in the USA and would just declare the profit on trading on your tax return less your costs such as internet connection, computer, subsistence and even portion rent of apartment for space used for your trading activities etc etc. just like you would do in any country.

This may be true, but how is he set up (self-employed must pay AHV) and how much he can put on his tax return? If he is not considered by the authorities to be self-employed (i.e. only "hausman"), then he can not put things like subsistence and portion of apartment. He may be able to do only a portion of computer and internet connection, but not as much as he would get deduction with the self-employed status. Also, how much his wife makes affects the so-called tax efficiency of either way of doing things.

Too bad you are not independent, like Cashboy, who would probably recommend you to have stayed single to be most tax efficient! ha ha ha.


Good luck and let us know what happens with you, I am curious now as well.

BruceFan

(self-employed communications specialist and legally single [until 2 August] even though living off of my partner like a parasite now but partner doesn't mind)

I thought it was more beneficial to be married with a family for tax purposes in Switzerland.
I like to pay a bit more tax and keep my sanity.
At least I see that you are playing the reverse roll in this relationship