Hi everyone,
I am thinking about moving to Switzerland from UK to work in a nursery in Kusnacht. Could anyone advise me on where to live? whether to live locally or a little outside? I will need to rent an apartment or a room that is funished as I am coming on my own for a year or two. I will be earning 4,800 Swiss Francs a month starting in August 2010.

I have read a little about the tax but I am still a little confused if you could help me out that would be great. If i was to live near Küsnacht, Erlenbach, Meilen that kind of area that would be in the Zurich Tax Canton right? i have tried to use the calculator but unsure about rate of tax as the communal tax ranges from 73% to 123%? so I would need to pay how much to the canton tax, communal tax and church tax in total each month?

thank you for your help!

The Homegate tax calculator works just fine for me, and is also in English:
here is an example of the difference in taxes between Kusnacht and Meilen for an unmarried catholic with no children:
Total tax in Küsnacht (ZH): 4'778.65 CHF
Federal tax: 558.35 CHF
Cantonal tax: 2'221.00 CHF
Municipal tax: 1'999.25 CHF

Total tax in Meilen (ZH): 4'888.50 CHF
Federal tax: 558.35 CHF
Cantonal tax: 2'221.00 CHF
Municipal tax: 2'109.10 CHF

For a change in city of residence from Küsnacht (ZH) to Meilen (ZH) your tax burden will increase by CHF 109.85 or 2.30%.

Your data:
Taxable income in Küsnacht (ZH): 50'000.00 CHF
Taxable assets in Küsnacht (ZH): 0.00 CHF
Marital status: single
Religion: Christian Catholic
Number of children (0-18 years): 0

when I REMOVE the Catholic from the religion and choose NONE this is what I get
Total tax in Küsnacht (ZH):
4'471.05 CHF
Federal tax: 558.35 CHF
Cantonal tax: 2'221.00 CHF
Municipal tax: 1'691.70 CHF

Total tax in Meilen (ZH):
4'580.90 CHF
Federal tax: 558.35 CHF
Cantonal tax: 2'221.00 CHF
Municipal tax: 1'801.55 CHF

The difference in the Municipal tax is what you would pay for CHURCH tax.

Hope this helps.

You may be better living a bit further out, the places you mentioned are usually in the high price bracket- unless small places are available at a different rate. Low tax usually means high rent...

could you give me an idea of whereabouts? im not too familiar with the areas yet....thankful to google map!! =)

I think that as previously posted Homegate will be your new best friend.

You can search for apartments by size, price and location, it has maps, lists proximity to tranporation, shopping, taxes, everything.

I suggest clicking around on Homegate to start getting a feeling for the areas.

Your disposable income will likely limit your options for a furnished flat.

Staefa and Zollikon have very low taxes and are both lovely places to live, along the same train line as Kusnacht. Zollikon is very close to Zurich, served by both bus and train, and easily bike-able into Zurich; Staefa is further out.

Kusnacht itself is very, very nice. You can't really go wrong, IMHO, with any towns that are accessible to Kusnacht via public transportation, either along the lake or up into the mountains. SBB.ch will give you information about public transportation....

thank you all for your help so far! i appreciate this so much! cant hit the thanks button yet as i haven't got enough posts i guess? thanks again xx

You may want to check out the areas of Pfaffhausen, Ebmatingen, Fällanden, Forch, Egg. All very close to Küsnacht but substantially cheaper (and no lake view).

thanks tilia =)
anyone know if are there any other websites apart from homegate i can use? in english please. there arent many furnished apartments outside zurich in the places mentioned above. thanks in advance xx

Have you looked at the Sticky Thread at the top of the Threads in the Sub-Forum > Market Place > Adverts for Homes. There are loads of sites there. Probably mostly not very helpful but one never knows.