I am leaving Zurich and Switzerland this Saturday for good and just want to share my experience with those who may be facing the same situation in future. I went to the Kreisburo to 'de-register' but was told that it was not the right place. They directed me to the city council near Paradelplatz next to the church. There you would fill in a form and they would ask you to go to the tax office opposite the council to get a stamp ( I think it is to prove that you have no outstanding unpaid Swiss tax). Because I am in the country for less than 6 months, I was not required to fill in a tax return. I guess for anyone who has stayed longer, you would need to fill in a tax return. On getting the stamp, I had to go back to the city council to get the confirmation letter, which costs CHF30. You MUST get this letter in order to cancel your health insurance and what not. I simply cannot understand the amount of hassle just for one to leave a country. In the UK, we only have to file a P85 with the HMRC by post. In fact, some people don't even do that, but you may miss out on any tax rebates if you don't.

The "Tax stamp" is relatively recent (2-3 years) and came from too many people leaving the country with open tax bills. That level a bureaucracy is a right pain, but it's what this country tic so well

Thank you for sharing, it's really like that.

The Swiss should just deduct the taxes from the wages like the British and the Germans do, so there wouldn't be any need for this burocracy. By the way, I am Swiss and probably will "de-register" for some long-term travelling and it's the same hassle for me, too...

You can also give power of attorney to your accountant to handle your taxes after you leave, stopping the need to have your taxes squared away before you go.

Thanks for this info! The wife and I will be leaving soon for Sweden!

what happens if there are tax assessments pending ? I guess the power of attorney handles all that ? the problem is if there payments or refunds pending and the bank account is closed, would the tax authorities transfer funds overseas ? Does one give them a new bank account etc ?

Yes but the way it works is that any refunds are transferred to your accountant's account who then has to transfer the money to you. And vice versa. Is there a way one can avoid the middleman ie power of attorney ? They take more than a year to process taxes. Is there another way to do it ? Confused about this deregistration and taxes formalities.