Hi All

I have a general question, this may have been asked/answered before, but I could not find reference to it, if it has.

One of the contractors that I work with is on a three month contract at the company I have been working for 9 months. He is worried that he may not be legally working here.

The situation is as follows

1. He lives in Belgium
2. He has a three month contract with a UK company but working in Switzerland
3. He gets paid in Belgium.

Does he have to inform the Swiss Tax Authorities of his contract here?

Rgds Richard

As long as he is only staying for 3 months no.

Sounds like a long 'business trip'. Technically I think that if you are performing work in a country and contracted for the position you should be taxed in the country you're working in. It would depend if he is a permanent employee of a Belgian/UK company and working here a bit for them or if he was hired as a contractor just to work in CH.

Also you would need to look into the tax treaty between Belgium and CH which would normally cover his type of situation. It should also cover what type of permit he needs, from the sound of it he is on a tourist visa (?) and I would guess that is a big no-no...

This is actually simple. He is non-resident working on a short term assignment in Switzerland. He therefore pays tax in the country in which he either lives or is employed (this can be more complicated) and not at all in Switzerland. Furthermore he does not require a work permit at all as he is a non-resident travelling in and leaving to go home every week or so. It might actually be beneficial for him to pay tax in CH instead of Switzerland but that is another story. The answer to the question is simply no he does not need a permit, does not need to inform anyone and the tax treaties play no role in this case.

As a non-resident traveling to CH each week and truely remaining living in Belgium I agree, but none of that was indicated in the original post. From the post, he is living in switzerland for 3 months and he is working in switzerland for those three months (and not as a regular employee of a foreign firm in CH for a while as part of his normal capacity).

From the OP, it seems that a 'real' answer is desired, not the 'wink-wink' answer that will cause the least problems...what is done with that information is up to the OP's friend - I would say letting dogs lie is the the easiest, he can always claim ignorance if there is anything untoward and certainly the firm would have to take some responsibility, though it is very unlikely a problem would come up.

Of course for the real answer you can contact the swiss tax authorities, they get all creamed up over this type of stuff I'm sure...And if Richard is right then there is nothing to worry about.

Andrew

Hi All

Thanks for the replies and the advice given so far, I will pass this onto him.

just to follow up and though..... He has taken a short term rental (again 3 months), an does not always travell back to Belgium

Assuming the initial answer is correct and he is ok for the three months. What will happen if his contract is extended beyond this period? Will he be liable for TAX over the whole period?

Rgds Richard Taylor

to be honest paying tax in Switzerland -vs- Belgium is a no-brainer - Switzerland is far cheaper tax-wise
And with an EU passport and a job, it should be easy for him to get the permit.

Of course he needs to check what happens with respect to Belgian requirement if he no longer is resident there.

I can only assume he is paying taxes there... I suppose thats a whole other question!!

Im on contract here for no more than a year (thank god) but i pay swis taxes at the moment untill i return to the uk. I was aware of the permit thingie but i think my company sorted that out for me. I just carry round a white booklet thing with my beautiful picture in etc... has to be renewed every 6 months though

To be Swiss residence he must live in Switzerland and that location be the centre of his life. If he is only staying here in order to be able to easily work and it is cheaper to rent than stay in a hotel then this is also no issue. However, if his contract extends beyond 3 months then the relevance can change depending on the wording of the contract he has with the Belgium company. IF the Belgium company is an "agency" and he is working for the agency in Switzerland then there will be a major fine for the agency and some tax and health insurance issues for your friend... His liability for tax and health insurance will be for the entire period of emplioyment.

If however he is working say for Accenture BE as a consultant and it just so happens he will be working for say Nestle for the next 3 - 6 months in Switzerland then so what. No tax liability, no insurances no nothing.

Hi Richard


Thanks again for the information, I think the latter applies to him. I have given him the details of this thread, and he is following this with great interest.

Rgds Richard