Hello,

I registered recently to the forum but was reading the threads years ago.

I have some problems with the taxation in Basel, mainly because my German is poor.

Issue 1:
in 2013, I had a B permit. I was living in Lausanne, then moved to Basel (still on a B-permit, tax removed monthly from my payslip , withholding tax 15%). In September, I was given a C-permit and I had to fill-in a tax form. Now the taxation is around 22,5% (salary is exactly the same). How is this possible? I had the strong impression that moving from a B to C permit was not financially favorable in my case.

Issue 2:
In 2014, I got married. My husband is living and working in France. He already filled his tax form, and at the french tax office, they told him to declare it this year still as single but next year as married. In Basel, they're asking for my husband's income (salary and bank information). Are we going to pay twice our taxes as married couple in France and in Switzerland? In some way, we should avoid double-taxation! I thought that we were entitled to pay our taxes in the country where we live and work (in our case, two different countries).

Many thanks for the help!

Issue 1 - Your tax at source (Quellensteuer) will be lower than your rate of tax once you're on a C. You can now claim various deductions some of which are taken into account by Quellensteuer (as a sort of average).

Sometimes you're better off, sometimes not.

Issue 2 - I can't help you with the finer points of how it'll work, but you won't be double taxed. France and Switzerland have reciprocal tax agreements.

These cases are always complex and every one is different. As usual, I recommend that you sign up with the "Groupement des Frontaliers". It is money well spent. Here in Geneva they have paid service to fill in your tax form for you. I'd check if that is available in your area too.

Late thought: maybe neither of you are frontaliers... I'm sure they won't mind and the tax situation has the same challenges.

Hi FrankZappa and Mirfield, Thanks for your replies

I have met with tax officers in France and in Basel and I got the answers to my questions. I am transcribing them here in case another person will go through the same situation

Situation 1, B to C permit: The taxation will change indeed. In Basel, the average tax percentage is 22,25%. When resident are on a B permit, the tax % is calculated based on a average depending on the situation (single, kids or not) and the company withold the money monthly. at the end of the year, they do a correction and eventually will retrieve more, to get close to 22,25%

Situation 2, married to a french guy living in France. I will declare next year my tax in Basel as married, taking int account my husband fortune when paying the kantonal tax on the fortune (around 0,4% for everything above 150k for a couple) and taking into account my husband salary when paying the federal tax.
in France, I will also declare my salary, will deduce my expenses in Switzerland (rent, transportation, train tickets). We will pay higher tax, but they will have to deduce the amount I will pay to Basel for my Swiss tax.

In short terms, a LOT of paper work ahead of us!