Tax residency rule, Switzerland

Switzerland Tax Residence

Summary

Switzerland treats you as a tax resident when you live there with the intention to stay, or when you stay there for at least 90 days without working, or for at least 30 days while you work. Short interruptions do not break the stay. From the day the stay began you owe Swiss tax on your income from the whole world, with some exceptions for foreign businesses and property. The cantonal tax office of the place where you stay decides, also for the federal tax.

Limit without work
A stay of at least 90 days
Limit with work
A stay of at least 30 days
Period
One stay, temporary interruptions do not break it
Other way in
Living in Switzerland with the intention to stay, with no day count
Law
Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DBG), articles 3 and 8
Run by
The cantonal tax office where you stay

Who it applies to

The rule

Article 3 of the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (Bundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer, DBG) says that a person is taxable through personal connection when they have their tax domicile or their tax stay in Switzerland. Personal connection means Switzerland taxes you as one of its own residents, not only on Swiss income.

Paragraph 2 defines the tax domicile: you are in Switzerland with the intention to stay permanently. This test has no day count. It looks at where the centre of your life is: your home, your family, your work.

Paragraph 3 defines the tax stay, and here days matter. You have a tax stay when, without regard to temporary interruption, you stay in Switzerland for at least 30 days and work there, or for at least 90 days and do not work there. The words at least mean that the 30th or the 90th day is already enough.

Article 8 says that tax liability begins on the day you take up domicile or stay in Switzerland. So when a stay reaches 30 or 90 days, the liability goes back to the first day of the stay. It ends on the day you leave Switzerland for good, or on death.

The cantons use the same definitions for their own income and wealth taxes, because the federal tax harmonisation law gives them the same wording. If your home country also treats you as resident, the tax treaty between the two countries decides which one is your country of residence for the treaty. Many short working stays are in practice settled by the treaty and by Swiss tax withheld from pay.

Why it exists

Switzerland wants people who really live in the country, or who stay for a long time, to pay tax there like other residents. A test of intention alone is hard to prove, so the law adds a simple count. The count is shorter for people who work, because a person who earns money in Switzerland uses its economy and should be taxed sooner than a guest who only spends money.

Counting the days

You measure one stay in Switzerland from its first day. Temporary interruptions do not start a new stay. The limit is 30 days if you work there and 90 days if you do not.

  1. Write down the first day of your stay in Switzerland.
  2. Decide which limit applies: 30 days if you carry out paid work in Switzerland during the stay, 90 days if you do not.
  3. List the times you left Switzerland during the stay. A temporary interruption, such as a weekend away, does not break the stay.
  4. Check whether the stay reaches the 30th or the 90th day.
  5. If it does, your Swiss tax liability starts on the first day of the stay.
  6. Separately, ask whether you live in Switzerland with the intention to stay. If you do, you are resident from the day you arrive.
Countr and this rule. Countr lists Switzerland Tax Residence, but it does not count it yet. The app counts days one visit at a time and starts a new count when it sees you leave the country. Swiss law says that temporary interruptions do not break the stay, so a counter that returns to zero after a weekend abroad would show too few days and would warn too late. Countr will count this rule when it can measure one stay from start to end with short breaks kept inside. When it does, the app's limit of 89 days is for a stay without work: you become resident on day 90. The app cannot know whether you work in Switzerland, where the limit is 30 days, or whether you intend to stay.

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Examples

A winter in the mountains without work

You arrive in Verbier on 5 January 2026, rent a chalet and do not work. You leave on 10 April 2026. That is a stay of 96 days. Your 90th day was 4 April 2026, so you have a tax stay in Switzerland. Your tax liability began on 5 January 2026, the first day.

Five weeks of work in Zurich

You come to Zurich on 1 June 2026 to work on a project for a client and leave on 5 July 2026, after 35 days. One weekend you visit friends in Milan. The weekend is a temporary interruption and does not break the stay. Because you work in Switzerland, the limit is 30 days, and you passed it. Under Swiss law you have a tax stay from 1 June 2026. A tax treaty with your home country can change which country may tax the pay.

Eighty days of holiday

You spend 80 days in Lugano from 1 May to 19 July 2026 and do not work. You keep your home and family in Canada. The stay is under 90 days and you have no intention to stay, so you have neither a tax stay nor a tax domicile. If you answered work emails every day as paid work, the 30-day limit would apply, and the result would be different.

Exceptions

Common misconceptions

“Switzerland uses the 183-day rule.”
Swiss law does not ask for 183 days. A tax stay starts at 90 days without work and at 30 days with work. The 183 days that people know come from tax treaties and decide where a salary is taxed.
“If I leave for a weekend, my days start again.”
Article 3 says the stay is measured without regard to temporary interruption. A short trip out of the country does not start a new count.
“The limits are counted per calendar year.”
The law speaks of one stay, not of days in a year. A stay from November to February is one stay.
“Tax only starts after day 90.”
Under article 8, liability begins on the day you take up the stay. When the stay reaches the limit, the first day is the start.

Questions and answers

Does remote work for a foreign employer count as working in Switzerland?

The law speaks of carrying out gainful activity while you stay in Switzerland, and it does not ask where the employer is. Work that you do from Swiss soil for pay can bring you under the 30-day limit. A tax treaty can still decide which country taxes the pay.

Do the day I arrive and the day I leave count?

The law counts the days you stay in Switzerland and does not leave out travel days. The careful way is to count both the arrival day and the departure day.

Is the rule the same in every canton?

The definitions are the same. The federal harmonisation law gives the cantons the same 30 and 90 days for their own taxes. What differs between cantons is the tax rate, not the residence test.

What happens if I reach 90 days by accident?

The law has no tolerance. On the 90th day of a stay without work you have a tax stay, and liability goes back to the first day. If you are also resident in another country, the treaty with that country can limit what Switzerland taxes.

I am in Switzerland for a three-month language course. Am I tax resident?

Not if you live abroad and are in Switzerland only to attend a school. Article 3 paragraph 4 says such a stay creates neither a tax domicile nor a tax stay. If you also work in Switzerland, this exception no longer fits.

Does a tax stay give me the right to live in Switzerland?

No. Tax law and immigration law are separate. How long you may stay and whether you need a permit is decided under the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, not by the tax office.

Sources

Read more: The 183-day rule: what it means and what it does not.

Other rules for Switzerland

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.