Me and my girlfriend (both EU nationals) are moving to Switzerland in March.
I have a contract and I will have a B permit, my gf might be able to keep her job with a UK company and working remotely.

We have looked at various solutions and I have some questions people here might know the answer of.

-umbrella payroll companies

It sounds like the easiest option, they would handle everything. UK company pays payroll company and payroll company pays her.
What I couldn't easily find is: how much do they charge?
Do you have any insight on good ones?
Does UK company have to pay VAT, hence does she have to ask for 7.7% more of what she would normally get if she were employed directly?

-solo trader

This is where waters are murky.
Is it easy as a EU citizen who just moved to Switzerland to register a company as a solo trader?
In some government websites it says you need a B permit before opening a company.
I also read you need to show some invoices before opening a company. Do you just invoice with your name first, and then create the company afterwards?
-when and how do you pay income tax, avs etc?

Same VAT question. Does she need to charge the UK company VAT and pay it in Switzerland?


Another general question:
Is there any tool I can use to calculate how much all the contributions (social security, first pillar, second pillar, accident insurance etc) would amount to?
as now those contributions are paid directly to her from the employer, she would need to charge them the full amount in order to have the same after-tax salary.
For example is she is paid 100k as an employer in the UK, to the company she costs 100k + various contributions. As a contractor she would need to charge the full amount, which I don't know how to calculate.

Search for ANOBAG on this forum.

Your girldfriend remains an employee of the UK company. They pay her gross + the employers NI they'd be paying. She pays the tax and the Swiss employers and employeses social contributions.

Otherwise, sole trader won't really be an option, she'd have to go payroll company.

No VAT should be charged (I think... well I never did. But I've not traded with the UK since 2014)

comparis.ch is the go to for the calculators you're looking for.

thanks, I stumbled upon ANOBAG but didn't go too much into detail.
With ANOBAG she would need to go through a payroll company as well?
How would it work to pay social contributions, first/second pillar etc? I assume she registers as a sole trader and she pays out of her contract?

To be clear, are you saying that sole trader would be an option only through ANOBAG?

with ANOBAG does her UK company keep paying into her private pension fund in the UK?

sorry I'm new to all this and trying to make sense of all the info I read!

With ANOBAG you are an employee of the foreign company, but you handle pillars 1 and 2, and tax. It does not require a payroll company. The foreign company makes no pension no NI payments in the UK.

Don't bother about sole trader. It isn't an option.

With a payroll company, they bill the foreign company. Your wife is an employee of the payroll company. They handle pillars 1 and 2 and tax at source, plus other requirements. After deducting their own fee of course.

With ANOBAG, there should be more take home pay than with a payroll company. But it does require more effort. Everything you need to know is here: https://www.sva-ag.ch/arbeitgebende/...tnehmende-ohne and you may find this site helpful as well. https://www.deepl.com/translator

__________________
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thank you for all the information, ANOBAG looks like the easiest option.
She will probably try to go for that

One other quick thought - and I hope some of the others will also jump in.... You say she's your "girlfriend". If you're not married, AIUI she would effectively be coming to Switzerland independently, i.e. not under family reunification because you're not married. In that case, I wonder if she mightn't struggle to get a permit in her own right as there's an argument that with ANOBAG, she has no reason to be in Switzerland?

correct, we are not married and we are both EU citizens.
You raise a good point, if anyone has any first hand experience, feedback would be appreciated.
Just by reading online it looks like after submitting the ANOBAG request, you can use that to register at the kreis.