The average person living in Zurich and earning 85,000 CHF per year can expect to pay 9,862 CHF in tax annually. This includes federal tax, cantonal tax, municipal tax and church tax. A person earning 100,00 CHF could expect a tax bill of 13,348 CHF. The tax rate is calculated from the total taxable income that is calculated from the yearly tax declaration that you have to submit. Factors such as your postcode, marital status, and pension payments can also affect your total tax bill.
Fiscal federalism is strong in Switzerland, therefore you pay tax to all three layers of goverment. The Federal government mainly relies on the direct federal tax and the VAT. While the cantonal and municipal governemtns primarily use personal income and wealth taxes, as well as corporate and capital taxes.
The federal tax system uses three scales as the basis for income taxation. The first is for single people. The second a scale for married people. And the third is a parental scale.
Tax per income for a single person living in Zurich
A single person living in Zurich and registered as a Protestant with the muncipality would pay 3,370 CHF in tax on a salary of 50,000 CHF per year. The table below shows the annual tax to be paid on the different income levels.
On the federal level and in most cantons, income is taxed progressively. That means that the tax rate increases with an increase in income. A handful of cantons, among them Luzern, Schwyz, Glarus, Appenzell, and St. Gallen, have fixed tax rates (the Swiss Tax system is explained by the Bund in detail here).
Therefore, as you move up the income ladder, your tax bill also increases. For example, someone earning 70,000 CHF will pay 7,035 CHF in tax, while someone earning 100,000 CHF will have to pay 10,985 to the tax authorities.
| Gross Income | Federal Tax | Cantonal Tax | Municipal Tax | Church Tax | Poll Tax | Total Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50,000 | 234 | 1,490 | 1,773 | 149 | 24 | 3,670 |
| 60,000 | 471 | 2,094 | 2,492 | 209 | 24 | 5,290 |
| 70,000 | 722 | 2,746 | 3,268 | 275 | 24 | 7,035 |
| 80,000 | 983 | 3,450 | 4,106 | 345 | 24 | 8,908 |
| 85,000 | 1,132 | 3,802 | 4,524 | 380 | 24 | 9,862 |
| 90,000 | 1,387 | 4,181 | 4,975 | 418 | 24 | 10,985 |
| 100,000 | 1,957 | 4,964 | 5,907 | 496 | 24 | 13,348 |
The list of taxes that the authorities collect also includes the church tax. This is a tax, that for historical reasons, is collected by the state on behalf of the church. This tax is only charged if you are registered at your local municipality as a Catholic, Roman Catholic, or Protestant.
Atheists, unregistered agnostics, and others are exempt from this tax.
Your payments into your pillar 3 account can also have a significant impact on your tax bill, just see the table below.
Without pillar 3a payments, someone earning 85,000 CHF a year would pay 9,862 CHF in tax. However, if that person pays the full amount into their pension pillar 3a account, they can deduct the full amount from their total income and therefore, a person earning 85,000 CHF would then pay 8,376 CHF in tax. That is a difference of almost 1,500 CHF in your total tax bill!
For someone earning more at 100,000 CHF, paying into the pillar 3a account saves them 1,850 CHF in tax.
| Gross Income | Tax with Pillar 3 Payments |
|---|---|
| 50,000 | 2,665 |
| 60,000 | 4,014 |
| 70,000 | 5,683 |
| 80,000 | 7,460 |
| 85,000 | 8,376 |
| 90,000 | 9,312 |
| 100,000 | 11,498 |
Tax per income for a married couple
For married couples the picture looks slightly different. In Switzerland there is often discussion about the “Heiratsstrafe”, or what could be called the marriage tax. This is because for married couples, the combined total income of both parties is used to calculate the tax rate.
So, for example, if Sarah earns 50,000 CHF a year and she is married to Thomas who earns 90,000 CHF a year, they will pay 15,467 CHF in tax on a joint income of 140,000 CHF. However, individually Sarah would pay 3,670 CHF while Thomas would pay 10,985 CHF. Therefore, they pay 812 CHF more in tax just because they are married.
Despite efforts to change this the higher tax bill for couples remains. Making marriage expensive in more ways than one!
| Gross Income | Federal Income | Cantonal Income | Municipal Income | Church Tax | Poll Tax | Total Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | 661 | 3,148 | 3,746 | 315 | 48 | 7,918 |
| 110,000 | 947 | 3,778 | 4,496 | 378 | 48 | 9,647 |
| 120,000 | 1,299 | 4,414 | 5,253 | 441 | 48 | 11,455 |
| 130,000 | 1,688 | 5,110 | 6,081 | 511 | 48 | 13,438 |
| 140,000 | 2,123 | 5,806 | 6,909 | 581 | 48 | 15,467 |
| 150,000 | 2,642 | 6,502 | 7,737 | 650 | 48 | 17,579 |
| 160,000 | 3,222 | 7,258 | 8,637 | 726 | 48 | 19,891 |
| 170,000 | 3,881 | 8,041 | 9,569 | 804 | 48 | 22,343 |
| 180,000 | 4,645 | 8,824 | 10,501 | 882 | 48 | 24,900 |
Tax per income for parents
We saw previously that being married is expensive in the eyes of the tax authority, but what does it look like if you have children?
Having children in Switzerland is not cheap, luckily there are a number of deductions available to parents.
First, there is the general deduction per child. On the federal level, you can deduct 6,500 CHF and on the cantonal level in Zurich, you can deduct 9,000 CHF for each child.
These deductions apply for children under your care, up to the age of 18 and for children past the age of 18 if they are pursuing their first job training or educational degree, for example, a bachelor’s degree. This applies so long as they are living in the same household as you and while you are providing for them. As soon as your children earn enough money that is deemed sufficient for them to support themselves, the deduction can no longer be applied.
For couples who are not taxed together i.e., they are unmarried but share joint custody, each party can apply 50% of the child tax deduction.
Second, for children up to the age of 14-years-old, you can deduct third party childcare costs from your taxes. The maximum amount is 10,100 CHF per year, per child. This can be applied so long as the parents utilise the services of a third party to care for their children while they are unable to work, are working, or are studying.
| Gross Income | Tax without children | Tax with 1 child | Tax with 2 chilren |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80,000 | 1,058 | 3,039 | 1,843 |
| 90,000 | 6,205 | 4,262 | 2,863 |
| 100,000 | 7,918 | 5,800 | 4,083 |
| 110,000 | 9,647 | 7,513 | 5,398 |
| 120,000 | 11,455 | 9,219 | 7,069 |
| 130,000 | 13,438 | 10,971 | 8,772 |
| 140,000 | 15,467 | 12,969 | 10,514 |
| 150,000 | 17,579 | 15,010 | 12,499 |
| 160,000 | 19,891 | 17,125 | 14,556 |
| 170,000 | 22,343 | 19,415 | 16,673 |
| 180,000 | 24,900 | 21,882 | 18,939 |
The table above shows an estimated tax burden for a married, protestant couple living in Zurich both with and without children. The tax burden is highest for couples who are married but childless.
A couple earning 140,000 CHF a year would pay 15,467 CHF in tax, however, if they have one child this would reduce to 12,969 CHF – and this is without applying the third party childcare deduction. With two children, the tax burden is even less (of course children are still more expensive overall but at least you can deduct some of the costs).
In summary, as you can see, income tax is relatively low in Zurich and overall in Switzerland. Moreover, there are many factors that can affect how much tax you will pay in Zurich, from your religion, to your marital status, and whether you have children. But this is only the start!
There are many other factors that influence your total tax, including in which municipality you live. To calculate the bill for your specific case, you can use the federal tax calculator here.
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