Dear All,

Hello. Hope all of you have started your week quite well. Happy labor day for those who used to celebrate it! I've browsed some of the threads and the information is quite useful. Great job for keeping up this site!

Little intro about me, I am a US resident, single female in my early 30's. I have been in Europe since the beginning of summer. I am currently working in Berlin for a tech company who is trying to relocate me to Switzerland. As a US resident I understand there is a special Tax Treaty with the US and Switzerland in which you ultimately pay the highest of one or the other when it comes to the Federal tax. Could anyone in this community (specially if US citizen) advise if the total Swiss tax burden is worst than what you were paying in the states?

Would really appreciate any input!
Thank you very much!

"labour" ..................

from what I understand, you only pay US tax if you hit a certain amount (reasonably high) - also do you own property in the US?

Swiss tax is lower and you do have to file a US return.

Yes, there is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. There is an official exchange rate that the IRS publishes and you use that to determine if you have gone over the threshhold into the "having to pay" zone.

Hi curlysil,

I found two threads where we briefly touched on the subject:

http://www.englishforum.ch/general-c...tax-haven.html
http://www.englishforum.ch/general-c...-4th-july.html

Just a couple of points - in your post you say you are currently in Berlin, but your location in your profile says San Francisco?

You also describe yourself as a US resident. Since you've only been in Germany for a short time you may technically be still US-resident, but you are about to become German resident. If you were relocated to Switzerland then you would become Swiss resident and be liable for taxes here. Perhaps you meant "US-citizen" rather than US-resident?

As for the double taxation agreement, this means you won't get taxed twice, but your passport entitles you to something we don't have to do - pay tax in two countries. This is the unique priviledge of US citizens - they have to still fork over money to the IRS even when non-resident. I can't imagine there would be much difference whether you live in Germany or Switzerland - uncle sam's share would probably be smaller in Germany due to higher German taxes, but I think you are going to have to pay nonetheless.

Hello Curlysil

As an US citizen who has been lawfully declaring (and paying where applicable) taxes to both the US and CH for the past 5 years, this is what I can tell you from my own personal experience.

1- There is a tax agreement between CH and US, where you pay taxes to CH first (country where you are working), but once you pass the maximum allowed threshold (I think it is 80-85K USD but please do not quote me on this one), you start paying to the US on the difference above the threshold. For example, if you make 100K USD salary in CH, you tay taxes in CH, but you will also be taxable for 15-20K in the US.
2- Uncle Sam "requires" you to file taxes every year even if you do not meet this 80K threshold
3- I own property in the US that is currently rented out, so I must file taxes every year.
4- I have used a tax advisor for the past few years due to my complicated personal situation, and tax advisors can find everything that could posible be deductible, such as my CH rent, my US storage fees etc etc from the amount I have to file in the US.

Hope this helps, and here is the link of the lady I have used in the past
www.ustax.ch

If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to PM me

cheers
laifu