My family and I have been in CH for two years and it is now new contract time. As a result we are leaving the ex-pat package behind and moving onto the Swiss system. I am finding this a mine field and am worried that we will get screwed over by the company (they always seem to want to)

Does anyone know about the pension rules, what is a first and second pile about and what happens to the UK state pension if you stop national insurance contributions..........Does anyone know an English speaking accountant that knows the tax rules and loop holes in Bern?

Basically before we sign anything I need to know the ins and outs of a nats arse on this subject to make sure we do not live to regret our decision to stay........

cheers

the social contributions are considered in a riciprocal agreement with the UK. Besides, if you're relying on this for a pension, you've been missing the news in the last few years

The pillars; they're fun - 3a is effectively AVCs in the UK (voluntary contributions) and your employer will usually have a private pension into which you pay one part and the employer two (or three if you're lucky) parts.

Which permit would you have? I assume B so you pay slightly higher tax. C gets you on tax that Swiss nationals pay - not at source.

An accountant would advise you on tax avoidance with regards to assets owned abroad (say if you own a house in the UK) and you can thus avoid tax that way.

I assume if you're on an expat package, you have someone like KPMG doing the annual tax return? Well, from what I've heard they're conservative and you might want to search on here for accountant (treuhand) tips

It's not a minefield really and you're not the first through the door so don't worry...

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/osc.htm
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...urance&spell=1

These should get you going

Hey thanks for the reply.........as for relying on the UK state pension for my retirement....no I am not that silly........I will win the lottery and retire in style............. it has to be the only way these days......hoho

It seems we need to do some more digging concerning tax issues and yes we hold the B permit for another three years, which is pants but cannot be helped......

BEfore attempting to answer any questions accurately so that you do not get ripped off you need to provide some more information - what a surpise! Important points are - no order...
have you been transfered by your company here?
How close are you to 50?
How many years of pension have you in the uk?
Any kids involved - if so how old?
Why the rush to de-ex-pat you as 2 years is the shortest I have ever heard of norm is 5 years.

KPMG are an excellent company to provide you the answers to your questions but not to do your tax returns . Your situation may be more complicated than a little man in Bern can deal with we will see...
To your simple questions:
1st pillar is the state pension scheme
2nd pillar is the company pension scheme
3rd pillar is a private voluntary and sensible scheme
With respect to your uk NI the answer is it depends - could you have expected another answer but really it is down to you. You can stop it ie freeze it where it is, you can buy them later, you can carry on paying you can transfer to the Swiss scheme, you can transfer from the Swiss scheme...

Any questions?!

My husband is 50 and has the full contributions in the UK, I am 39 and have nothing very much. We were transfered here by our company in October 04. We have one daughter in full time education aged 16 years, my other daughter is 19 but will be leaving for uni in UK shortly so she does not count..........the main reason the company want to get us onto the Swiss system is because its cheaper for them.......also if they do not do this my husband could chose to go back to England and they would then be in serious trouble here as there is no one qualified to do this job apart from him apparently..........(could be his bullshit but its what he tells me)

At the moment I have no other questions I am just trying to get as much information together as possible so we are better informed when it comes to signing the contract etc........