Switzerland

No. Switzerland runs no citizenship-by-investment or residence-by-investment programme, and anyone marketing a Swiss golden visa as a priced, rules-based product is misrepresenting it. The nearest equivalent for a non-EU national is a Residence Permit B granted on grounds of important cantonal fiscal interest under Art. 30(1)(b) AIG / Art. 32(1)(c) VZAE. That is a discretionary favour, though, with no published price, no application portal and no entitlement attached. The canton must want you, and the federal State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) must then approve the decision. It can refuse even after a canton has agreed. What you are really buying, in the end, is a negotiated tax outcome, not a visa.

The federal minimum taxable base (Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand) rose to CHF 435,000 for tax year 2026 under the cold-progression ordinance. That is up from CHF 434,700 in 2025, per ESTV circular 2-215-D-2025 and Art. 14(3)(a) DBG. Here is the part people miss. That figure is a taxable base, not the tax you actually pay. Apply ordinary rates to it and you land at roughly CHF 130,000–200,000 a year in cheaper cantons, and CHF 250,000–450,000+ in Geneva, Vaud or Lucerne. The cantonal minimum bases we verified range from CHF 400,000 in Bern to CHF 647,100 in Lucerne. Many advisory sites still quote the stale 2025 figure, or the un-indexed statutory CHF 400,000.

Here is the counter-intuitive part. The famously low-tax cantons often set the highest lump-sum minimum expenditure bases. They do not need the revenue, so they price the regime accordingly. That means the reflex advice to move to Zug or Schwyz for low tax can be wrong for a lump-sum family. Cantonal minimum bases sit well above the 2026 federal floor of CHF 435,000 and vary widely, roughly from CHF 400,000 to CHF 1m depending on canton. The specific figure has to be confirmed with the canton before you rely on it. Higher-rate Ticino, by contrast, publishes an effective total burden of about CHF 147,000 a year for a married couple in Lugano. That is exactly how a nominally higher-tax canton can beat a low-tax one on the lump-sum. The discipline is to model the minimum base and the rate together. Never either one alone.

No, and this is the trap that catches people. Any gainful activity in Switzerland kills the regime. The work-place principle governs here, so managing a Swiss business from Switzerland disqualifies you even if the salary is paid abroad. The only narrow exception is an unpaid board seat limited to administering your own assets. It is structurally suited to retired or exited founders whose income is predominantly non-Swiss. It is not suited to anyone who still wants to run a company on the ground.

Yes. Both spouses must independently satisfy every condition, so one spouse taking a Swiss job ends the regime for the couple. Dependent children can be included, and their living costs form part of the assessed expenditure. Swiss citizens cannot use the regime at all, and dual nationals holding a Swiss passport are treated as Swiss and are ineligible. This makes it unsuitable for any family where one partner intends to work locally.

Private capital gains on movable assets are tax-free, which is a large part of the appeal. Professional securities dealers are taxed as income, though, and real estate gains are taxed cantonally. Wealth tax exists but is cantonal and communal only, roughly 0.1–0.3% in Zug, Schwyz, Nidwalden and Obwalden and up to about 1% in Geneva on worldwide net assets, with no federal wealth tax. There is no federal inheritance or gift tax. Cantonal treatment varies, with spouses exempt everywhere and direct descendants exempt in most cantons, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden being the exceptions. A federal 50% inheritance and gift tax on estates over CHF 50m was rejected by 78.3% of voters on 30 November 2025.

No. The lump-sum tax deal does not touch Swiss social security contributions (AHV/AVS). For non-employed residents these are assessed on wealth and pension income, and they can reach roughly CHF 25,000+ per person per year. This cost surprises families who assume the negotiated tax figure is the whole bill. It sits on top of the tax, and it should be modelled separately.

Yes, and the risk is real and it keeps coming back. Five cantons have already abolished it for cantonal and communal tax by popular vote: Zurich (voted 2009, effective 1 January 2010), Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt. That leaves 21 of 26 cantons where it survives. A national abolition initiative reached the ballot and was rejected on 30 November 2014 by 59.2% of voters. Any canton can abolish the regime at any time by referendum, with only short transitional relief. This is not a policy you can assume is permanent.

A C permit for permanent residence typically comes after 10 years. That drops to 5 years for EU/EFTA nationals, and for US and Canadian nationals under treaty. Lump-sum status does not speed this up. Citizenship generally requires 10 years' residence, with years spent between ages 10 and 20 counting double, subject to a minimum of 6 actual years, plus cantonal and communal conditions and a language test at B1 spoken / A2 written in German, French or Italian. Switzerland permits dual citizenship. But there is a sting: acquiring Swiss citizenship ends the lump-sum regime permanently, because Swiss nationals cannot use it.