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Do I have to file a tax return in my first year in Switzerland?
It depends on your permit. With a B or L permit, the tax is taken straight out of your pay by your employer: as a rule, no tax return. With a C permit or Swiss nationality, the tax return is compulsory.
Two exceptions for B and L permits: above 120,000 francs of gross annual income, the tax return becomes compulsory. And below that, you can ask for one — before 31 March of the following year.
That request is called subsequent ordinary assessment. It lets you claim what withholding tax ignores — third pillar, pension fund buy-backs, childcare costs — but there is no going back: once you are on the ordinary tax roll, you stay there.
The threshold that makes a tax return compulsory
Gross annual income, for a B or L permit.
The deadline for asking for one
Of the following year. After that day, that year is lost.
Who files a return, and who does not
| Your situation | Tax return | How the tax is paid |
|---|---|---|
| B or L permit, under 120,000 CHF | No, unless you ask | Monthly deduction from your pay, by your employer |
| B or L permit, over 120,000 CHF | Yes, compulsory | The deduction carries on, and counts as an instalment |
| C permit or Swiss nationality | Yes, compulsory | You get instalment statements to pay yourself |
| Wealth or income not taxed at source | Yes, depending on the canton | Property, securities, a pension: the thresholds are cantonal |
If you arrive part-way through the year, you are only taxed on the months you spent in Switzerland. But the rate applied is worked out as if you had earned that salary all year. A high salary over three months is therefore taxed at a full year's rate — that is normal, and not a mistake by the canton.
Subsequent ordinary assessment: what you get out of it
Withholding tax applies a flat scale. It takes account of your marital status and your children, but it ignores everything else. Asking for ordinary assessment lets you claim:
- payments into the third pillar, up to 7,373 francs in 2027;
- pension fund buy-backs, often much larger;
- childcare costs;
- travel and meal costs linked to your work;
- interest on debt, including mortgage interest;
- training and further training costs;
- maintenance payments you make.
Once you are on the ordinary tax roll, you stay there. Dropping back below 120,000 francs does not automatically return you to withholding tax alone. The tax is still taken from your pay, but it becomes a simple instalment, and you file a return every year.
That is not always a bad thing — often the opposite. But it is a permanent choice, to be made after doing the sums, not on reflex.
Is it worth it?
The rule of thumb: ordinary assessment pays off when you have real deductions to claim, and costs you when you have none.
| Likely a win if | Likely a loss if |
|---|---|
| You pay into the third pillar or buy back pension fund years | You have no particular deductions |
| You pay substantial childcare costs | You live in a commune with a high tax rate |
| You have a long commute for work | Your withholding tax scale is already favourable |
| You own your home and pay mortgage interest | You expect to leave Switzerland soon |
Withholding tax applies an average cantonal rate. Depending on your commune, switching to ordinary assessment can reveal a communal rate higher than that average.
What to do, in practice
-
Check your gross annual income
Above 120,000 francs, you have nothing to decide: the tax return will come anyway. Below that, the choice is yours.
-
Do the sums before you ask
Add up the deductions you could claim, and compare that with what you have already paid at source. Many cantons offer a free online calculator.
-
File the request before 31 March
With your cantonal tax authority, for the previous year. The date is strict: there is no extension for this request, unlike the deadline for filing the tax return itself.
If you pay into the third pillar on a B permit, that payment gets you nothing in tax terms as long as you stay on withholding tax alone. The deduction only exists through ordinary assessment. In other words: opening a third pillar without asking for ordinary assessment means locking your money away without the tax break that is the whole point of it.
The three most common mistakes
- Assuming there is nothing to do because you are taxed at source. Above 120,000 francs the tax return is compulsory, and forgetting it costs you reminders and interest.
- Asking for ordinary assessment without doing the sums. It is a one-way street, and it is not always in your favour.
- Letting 31 March slip by. No extension is granted for this request: the year is lost, along with all its deductions.
Ordinary assessment or not, for your salary, your commune and your deductions?
Heidi compares the two for your situation.
Read next
- Retirement as a cross-border worker: AVS, the second pillar and the second right to choose
- Family allowances for cross-border workers: Switzerland or France?
- What happens to my second pillar when I leave my Swiss job?
- Unemployment as a cross-border worker: where to register, who pays and how much?
- G permit: conditions, going home and changing employer
- Quasi-resident status: who can apply, and by when?
- Who gets my taxes as a cross-border worker: France or Switzerland?
- How much do you take home in Switzerland as a cross-border worker?
- How many days of remote work can I do without losing my cross-border worker status?
- How does the Swiss three-pillar pension system work?
- What does a month of living in Switzerland really cost?
- B, L or C permit: which one applies to me and how do I get it?
Sources
- B permits and tax: subsequent ordinary assessment, threshold and deadline
- Geneva regulation implementing the law on withholding tax (RISP)
Written by the Heidi team and updated on 7 November 2026. The 120,000-franc threshold is set at federal level; the thresholds for wealth and for income not taxed at source are set by each canton. This page is for information, and does not replace the view of your cantonal tax authority.