…or working in Geneva and living in France, or commuting to Geneva weekly and living in the UK.

Anyone done it?

Had a headhunter badger me for my CV today for a kerch$$ng project – am wondering what the pitfalls might be. Not being near the sea is one. Not being near friends & family is obviously another one, tax situation in France looks bad, but property prices in CH look equally bad.

Tax situation in France is better if you earn the money over the border. You normally earn double the money in Switzerland compared with France and need to to live there. Property in Switzerland is expensive because once you have it you pay tax in Switzerland at a negotiated rate depending on your property, and it’s low. Lot’s of rich people want to be officially resident there. I would rather live in France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain or pretty much anywhere else.

Got a friend who does just that, works in Geneva, lives in France, he loves it.
He’s in the banking sector so I would imagine he is in the best place as far as french tax v Swiss property prices.
He has lived in Switzerland prior to “moving out” to France

Transport networks seem to be a million times better than anything over here so getting about isn’t a drama.

We were there in the summer and the riding is fantastic (road)

I live in France and work in GVA – highly recomended, mail in profile if you want to drop me a mail with any questions.

Not being near the sea is one.

You’d have to be pretty picky to miss the sea when there are loads of lakes and big mountains 🙂

English Forum is a pretty good resource for information.
The French government have recently changed the rules for “Frontarliers” who commute across from France, and work in Switzerland:
Swiss Info
I guess if you’re on a good wage this won’t be such an issue…

I live near Lausanne which is waaaay cooler than Geneva.. 🙂
I wouldn’t be too concerned about property prices unless you’re planning to stay a long time as most people rent. Rents are high but the salaries tend to account for that…

We’ve an office in Geneva – loads of staff commute in from France

Visiting Geneva – it was waaaaay expensive, and wasn’t the most interesting place I’ve visited. Bugger of a commute as well.

Bistro de boeuf rouge for dinner – in the red light district apparently.

Personally I’d look at the option of living in France…

Had a friend who moved to Geneva with his work he lived around the corner from the French border. The Jura has some fantastic trails one the best riding I’ve done.

What are the good points about living in Switzerland?

Well, the flag’s a big plus.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X_Ot0k4XJc[/video]

Thank you. I’m here all week.

It’s ace – as long as you have enough looted Nazi gold.

If you work in Geneva and come back at the weekends the HMRC will regards you as a resident. I have just completed my last tax return form for CH ….
So some of the tax advantages of CH will have gone.
You will get large salary – you will need it. Rent will be 3000 CHF upwards, and if you can get a flat in Geneva.

Many commute from France – it is very common but I know nothing about it or how the tax system works

The English Forum is extremely cliquely with some quite malicious trolls. If you can work you way through them, there are some good sorts. i set up a motorbike group, which is set in Zurich, and apparently is now 100 + strong

The country is beautiful, the people weird and stunningly expensive

I have a few Swiss friends in and around Geneva none are weird and I’m jealous of them all for living in such a great place. Plenty of water sports on the Lake plus the mountains summer and winter. As above salary will look high vs UK but it will need to be to meet expenses. A number of people I know lived in France and commuted into Geneva for 2 reasons, it’s hard to find an apartment and they are expensive (in 20 years the Swiss currency has doubled vs £ so of course it looks expensive to us). You will. It be able to buy initially only rent anyway. If you get a job in Switzerland and come back to the UK for less than 90 days a year you will not have to pay UK taxes on your earnings.

it’s not close to the sea but it is only 4 hours away from the Med…

I was chatting with a Swiss Italian and the numbers of people commuting from the surrounding countries is staggering. Accepted as the norm really.

Not surprised at that,, a friend recently left for Australia because £50k odd wasn’t stretching as far as she would like in Lugano. When we visited we were shocked at how expensive it was, easily double what we would pay in a supermarket.

Yes, you can double your UK salary and still be worse off, particularly if in the UK you live/work outside London so aren’t used to London prices. I posted up a while ago on another thread that Graduate Schemes around Geneva can pay £100k pa. Since taxes went up around Europe (inc in the UK when they went to 50%) there has been a big influx into Switzerland particularly Geneva which is favoured by the English. These people are are the top end financially (eg £ millions per anum) so they further push up prices/rents etc in Switzerland. This is reflected in the amount commuting from outside the country.

If you get a job in Switzerland and come back to the UK for less than 90 days a year you will not have to pay UK taxes on your earnings.

In theory – yes
If you retain a home base in the UK, or you family live here, you may well be regarded as a resident still.
Every w/e is 104 days , which take you over the 94 days a year – CH is nor Europe but has quite a lot of agreements adopted from the EU.
I am not aware that it has the double taxation exemption that Germany has, as all my tax was handled by Ernst Young.

I’m sure not all Swiss are weird but 8 years of living there and being employed by a Swiss company and a Swiss village taught me a few things ….

Many love the iife there, hence its nickname as Britzerland- I hated it, I found it dull and sterile. The countryside is amazing mind, as is opportunities for mountain biking and motorcyclingg

But you see @mrmoofo I am dull so I’d fit right in ! yes agreed on the tax points if you have a family living back in the UK. I did have a house/family in UK when I lived in Singapore but I can back far less than 90 days so all was well.

Thanks for all the advice. There’s a load to take onboad having looked at the English forum.

Had my first technical interview today which went really well. It’s starting to feel scarily like a possibility.

Two of the nicest and most interesting people I know live and work there and they love it. They have no intention of coming back – both love climbing, skiing and watersports so they are in heaven.

Oh how I’d love to have such a dilemma

@colwyn58 any jobs going? Engineering technician? Office Junior? General dogsbody?

What a fantastic part of the World, Alps, Lakes…

So this looks like it may happen. My prospective employer has now gone off to generate an official offer. What I could do with, in preparation for reviewing the offer, is some way of estimating what tax implications there will be. I’ll be a Swiss employee on proper Swiss t&cs. Is there anything online I can use? Likelihood would be that we’ll live in France (Annecey looks lovely) and I’ll commute.

Can’t you work tax free for some European corporations or some such?
I remember when I applied for a job on the collider working for CERN they told me I’d not pay tax on my earnings in any country. That was a great looking job with fantastic pay. The only reason I didn’t pursue it past the phone interview was because I got promoted at work and didn’t want to miss that opportunity.

Indian company providing outsourced services to a Swiss company? Think not. I ran some figures through the swiss tax office online calculator just now. Seemingly interest on debt, children and property maintainance are all tax-deductible in Switzerland.

@hot_fiat, llucky you. Lots of deductions in Switzerland and taxes are quite complex as they vary by Canton. Whether as a relatively new resident only renting you’ll be able to take advantage I don’t know. You do need some proper advice. Salaries are a lot higher. Also double check commute options as traffic into the city can be bad. One of my friends lives in Nyon, train link into city and convenient for airport and trips to the mountains. Right on the lake for water sports. A commute from Annecy, as lovely as it is, could take the shine off working in Switzerland.

Last year I lived in Genva for 6 months. Based on the lake front in central geneva was a fantastic location but I think I’d live in Nyon if I were to do it again.

Seemingly interest on debt, children and property maintainance are all tax-deductible in Switzerland.

Common in many countries; high tax rates but lots of deductions.

Got my offer letter through today. Despite a bonkers salary (though not as bonkers as rumored, but in-line with what I’d seen on glassdoor), I’m going to give this a miss.

The role would have been liaising with the company I already work for, so I took a look on our support system to try and dig into how they are as a customer. OMFG! If you could stereotype an offshored outsourcer, they have embraced the stereotype and then added some non-functioning bells and whistles to the edges. Run away!

Was nice to be chased though.