Hi there,

A friend of mine is receiving a request for 35chf per month for being a North American living in Canton Vaud. I have never heard of anything like this and we have other North American friends who have never received something like this. She visited Controle des Habitants who explained that it was a tax for north americans, but it somehow feels slightly wrong.

Is anybody aware of anything like this existing?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Rob

Does he/she know other Americans that get the same bill?

Personally, I have never heard of it. Perhaps the text of the accompanying letter would help explain it.

I always thought a "Taxe de Sejour" was paid for by holidaymakers as a tourist tax?
I have never heard of this for a permit holder.

A quick internet search found that it applies to tourists as well as secondary residences. The definition for tourist facilities is pretty broad. Is your friend staying in a pension or apartment hotel? The legal text I read made no reference to nationality, and I have never received a monthly bill for this kind of tax!

additional information:
http://www.vd.ch/fr/themes/economie/...axe-de-sejour/
http://www.vd.ch/fileadmin/user_uplo...mmune-taxe.pdf
http://www.levaud.ch/documents/Regle...sejour_002.pdf

all in French... it has nothing to do with being North American.

Thanks for your help folks - we are fairly sure that is what it is. It is an accommodation through the organisation she works for...the strange thing is other folks living there have not had to pay it apart from a couple of other North Americans, hence why we thought it was a NA thing. All clarified anyway! thanks all!