Ok so, if you are a german citizen and you want to live in Switzerland BUT you are being paid by your employer in germany... where do you pay your income tax?

Switzerland.

It depends on where you are officially resident.

What about that "doppelbesteuerungsabkommen" agreement thingy where for 5 years Germany could still tax you on your german income even if your official residency is CH??

Hi Lynn

Usually the DDT (i.e. "double tax treaty" also know as doppelbesteuerungsabkommen agreement thingy") between two countries define that (simplification warning):
1) the country of employment collects tax on source (yes, the quellensteuer - please do not mix with swiss quellensteuer - this has one additional function; not really relevant here)
2) the country of residency collects income tax from worldwide income of its residents (less the already colected amount of the tax on source in the country of employment)

(quick note - US in collects income tax from all its citizents, regardless of the residency - only DTT are relevant - yes, links directy to the current bank issue; not really relevant here)

The above is a simplification based on the standard OECD model DTT. Various countries can agree on different terms. Lynn, do you still need the answer to your question? I might look it up. PM me.

Germany - see DBA:

(4) Bei einer in der Schweiz ansässigen natürlichen Person, die nicht die schweizerische Staatsangehörigkeit besitzt und die in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland insgesamt mindestens fünf Jahre unbeschränkt steuerpflichtig war, kann die Bundesrepublik Deutschland in dem Jahr, in dem die unbeschränkte Steuerpflicht zuletzt geendet hat, und in den folgenden fünf Jahren die aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland stammenden Einkünfte und die in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland belegenen Vermögenswerte, ungeachtet anderer Bestimmungen des Abkommens, besteuern.

We pay double tax. US/CH. although resident in the US. It sucks but I would rather pay than worry- it isn't too bad, besides I might retire in Switzerland.

Paying double tax in US I've heard of but I am unclear about Germany. The Article simply states that Germany CAN but doesn't actually say they do or will. Also there are some statements which make this appear to apply to companies or self-employed... very confusing

Thats because of the language the DTT employ – CAN in the above contexts in common language means that Germany can collect this tax, provided that it has a correspondent tax legislation, which actually enables it to collect this tax. Better?

(I hang my head in shame... I'm a law student )

believe me - if they CAN collect tax they surely WILL..... there's no double taxation though, you only pay the higher (i.e. German) tax. To be on the safe side you should talk to a tax advisor as well....

no worries – tax law is different then “regular” law – especially the international treaties.

Let's complicate the matter: we are living in CH but my wife works in Germany. She pays tax in Germany and I pay quellensteuer (as a foreigner not earning 120k CHF and not being here for more than 3 years), but the question is: I pay quellensteuer as single income household or double income hosehold?
Thanks for any hints!