I will be moving to Zurich for a one year post doctoral position at EAWAG this March. My husband will come with me, and is planning to work remotely for his current US-based company. We are both US citizens, and will have L permits.

What we and his company are hung up on is how he will actually be paid legally while in Switzerland (from what I understand, it would not be legal for him to continue to be paid through his US account living in Switzerland). His company cannot pay him through a Swiss account, because that would mean that they established a "permanent presence" there, and the company would be liable for Swiss taxes as a whole.

I am wondering what our options are. Would he be able to file as "self-employed" and then file for and pay taxes at the end of the year? If not, would it be possible for his company to outsource his payroll, such that his payroll is administered through a personnel agency basin in Switzerland? If this is the case, will the company have to prove that no one else in Switzerland can do his job to get him a work authorization? Would this process be easier if my company is already applying for his permit?

Thank you, any advice is greatly appreciated!

There are four ways for a company not resident in Switzerland to "employ" someone residing in Switzerland:
1) Self-employed: Your husband is registered as self-employed in Switzerland and could agree a contract with your husband's current company as a contractor.
- In theory, this would not work for the situation described because he would only have only customer. As a practical matter, it is possible that the SVA might turn a blind eye if it doesn't go on too long.
2) Incorporated entity: Your husband incorporates a legal entity such as a GmbH/ LLC, of which he is an employee. The legal entity, owned by your husband, would then sign a contract with your husband's current company.
3) ANOBAG: This is where your husband, resident in Switzerland, is an employee of the company. The employee would be responsible for social security payments on the company's behalf, which could also be outsourced to an accounting firm.
4) Payroll Service: This is where your husband's company would contract with a payroll company such as Adecco, Randstad, etc. which would hire your husband under contract to your husband's current employer.

Based on what you described, 3) and 4) would be most practical and risk-free. 1) might work but would entail risk, imo.

Hope this assists you.

You really need to talk to the cantonal migration and taxation offices about this as usually L dependent permit holders need authorisation to work here and a Swiss employer has to meet certain conditions to be able to hire them.

Setting up a GmbH will need a minimum of CHF20,000 capital plus the costs of setting the company up.

https://www.startups.ch/en/inform/details/gmbh/

As far as I know L dependent permit holders are not allowed to be self-employed and I also don't know if you could set up a company here with just a dependent's L permit as the permit doesn't not carry the "right" to work here which is why he would need permission from the Swiss authorities.

If he can set up his own company he would probably need an accountant/payroll company to deal with the business account as he's unlikely to get a business account from any Swiss bank if he's the signatory on it as all such accounts would have to be reported on an FBAR form if the aggregate figure in the account comes to more than $10,000 at any time of the year. You'll both have US tax filing obligations as well.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-aliens-abroad

Can you site sources that say your husband can not legally be paid in the US? I'm not convinced this is true.

Since his employer is a foreign entity he will be responsible for both employer and employee contributions. He doesn't need to go through a payroll firm.

You need to talk to the commune to confirm his permit allows it and then talk to the AVS office to register and set up to pay those contributions.

The 'one client' issue does not come into play here as the employer is a foreign entity and can not be made to pay the employer contributions. This is only relevant for Swiss companies with Swiss freelancers.

Let's repeat: the employer is NOT Swiss based. The clue is in 'US based'.

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During a pretty lengthy and irregular transition period with contracts still in the US, I had funds deposited to a US checking account which I accessed from Switzerland online and with an ATM card.

Sounds like you are here temporarily. Not sure what value there is in setting up a GmbH. He can also set up a sole proprietorship for a lot less, if at all necessary.

Wow, thank you for all of the helpful advice!

I agree with Mullhollander that either ANOBAG (which I believe is what miniMia is suggesting) or going through a payroll service are the most viable options in this case. I believe his company already pursued the ANOBAG option, and decided against it because it would require registering as a company in Switzerland, which would make the company as a whole liable for Swiss taxes. Therefore, going through a payroll service seems to be the best option.

The one thing that is still unclear concerning the payroll service is how it would work with the type of permit he would have (L dependent). Would the payroll service also apply for his work authorization, requiring them to show that they could not hire someone from Switzerland or the EU to do his job? If so, would this just entail a statement saying that the position only exists in Switzerland because he is in Switzerland? Or would it actually be necessary to show that they posted the position and considered other candidates, as is implied here?

Thank you again, I really appreciate all of your insight!

Your husband would be your dependent as part of family reunification and he could apply for permission to work as an addendum to his L permit. There is also no need to demonstrate that his job could only be done by him and there would be no need for anyone to search for Swiss/ EU citizens to do it. See 4.9.2 at this link (German):

http://www.ma.zh.ch/internet/sicherh...taetigkeit.pdf

Also, ANOBAG would not cause your husband's company to be considered to have a Permanent Establishment (PE) in Switzerland and would not cause it to have to pay Swiss corporate income taxes here. ANOBAG means "employees without a social contribution-required employer" and is intended for employees of foreign employers who do not have a business place in Switzerland. This is described at this link:

https://www.svazurich.ch/anobag

Your husband's employer might wish to contact its accounting firm's Swiss office or an HR consultancy such as Aon Hewitt or Tower Watson.

ANOBAG does not apply to employers not in the EU and there is no obligation for your husband's company to register in Switzerland.

You need to speak to the AVS/AHV. It seems OTT for your husband to go through a payroll company as the US company has no AVS/AHV obligations in Switzerland.

The permit needs to be discussed with the migration authorities responsible. He does not complete with EU/Swiss employees. He needs to show he is a professional and there isn't salary dumping going, etc(if he wants to be employed in Switzerland). To work for a foreign company I don't know the permit implications. Migrations would. Call the canton migrations office.

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BridgetU, could you share your final solution for this scenario? I'm in the exact same position and finding it difficult to understand all the intricacies of my husband working remotely for his current employer in the US and what that will entail.

Hello dpos,

It turns out this is a grey area, and it is virtually impossible to figure out the logistics before you both arrive in Switzerland and receive your permits. Once you register at your Kreisburo upon arrival you will find out what permit you get. It turned out that my husband and I received B permits, so he did not have to apply for a work permit.

I would suggest that you first arrive in Switzerland with your spouse, check in at the office in the district where you live, and get your residence permits from the migration office. Then you can refer your questions regarding your spouse's work situation to the Tax Office.

I apologize that I don't have a better answer, we decided to take the risk that my husband might not have been able to work while we were in Switzerland.

Regards,

BU