Living in Switzerland

[Ej74]

Excuse my post if it rambles and i am being lazy as well.

1. I have the potential for a position in the generic area of Rotkreuz - can someone point me to a definite resource to determine the rate of income tax in this canton.

The link below provides a summary, just want to confirm if this is correct ?

http://blog.aesfinance.com/tax-in-switzerland/

2. I want to bring my GTR over to Switzerland, if so what do i need to consider in doing so ? servicing / tax/ insurance / availability of high grade shell fuel/ i understand i need to have owned the car for at least 6 months ?

3. Banks - can i transfer a uk account over but i assume it is better to open a local bank account ?

4. Property - i want to rent, is there a good resource i can use

I have more questions floating around in my head but will await your help

Cheers Guys

[WelshBoyo]

Rotkreuz is in the Canton of Zug. Are you going to live there or is your employement there? You only pay tax where you live, not where you are employed.

Some Tax Information:-
en.comparis.ch
UBS

Banks - Easier to open up a Switzerland bank account. If you have a work visa it is fairly easy, just pop into a main branch (as they usually speak good English).

Property - Best website is Homegate, but if you plan on living in Zug Kanton I would recommend Amtsblatt which is a local information paper and usually you can find properties here before they appear in HomeGate. Be aware renting in Switzerland is a right pain, because even if you manage to find a property you want, you usually have to wait for the vendor to accept you and they can be very picky e.g. I lost an apartment because at the time I only had a 1 year permit, lost another apartment because I wasn't Swiss etc.

And good luck, it is a great place to live (and especially to drive around with a great car you have)

Edited by WelshBoyo on Thursday 9th December 09:13

[marcusjames]

An informative website is englishforum.ch just don't mention you drive a 3.8 litre GTR

[AndrewD]

Welcome.
Plenty of nice cars here, good fuel won't be a problem.
Importing your car might be a pain though.
Rotkreuz isn't too picturesque - not as bad as say Cham or Edlibach, but for the Swiss experience you want the Aegeris
Good luck on englishforum

[Whitean3]

Welcome!
Most things have been covered, but I might as well stick my oar in too. There are various accommodation websites you can use- as well as homegate, there is Comparis.ch (you can use this in English) and Immoscout.ch. Most people in Switzerland tend to rent, so there should be plenty of choice- but read up on the English forum about the vagaries of getting an apartment (or buy yourself the "Living and Working In Switzerland" book for an overview on living here- I'd say it was fairly accurate.

As for Kanton Zug, this is where all the tax dodgers like AndrewD live
One of the lowest tax kantons in Switzerland, so nothing to worry about in this regard. As Andrew says, there are probably nicer places to live than Rotkreuz though. My wife's aunt/uncle live there and it doesn't get rave reviews...
Again, as mentioned, you get taxed according to where you live, not where you work.

Importing your GTR should be fine, but expect a lot of bureaucracy and bullsh!t charges trying to get it registered.

Good luck!

[smilerbaker]

just a word of warning if you intend to import your car, it must be totally original, so if you have changed your wheels, shocks, brakes etc etc you'll have to change them back to oem or get certificates for the mods from the manufactures, which if they are not sold here you'll never get (unless you want to pay for them to be tested ) anything that isn't purely cosmetic has to conform to swiss standards and come with a certificate.

but you'll have 12 months to sort it out before you have to import it, although lots of people (me included) drive round in there foreign cars for a lot longer then that without hassle

[AndrewD]

Whitean3 said:

As for Kanton Zug, this is where all the tax dodgers like AndrewD live

• instructs libel lawyer*

[eyebeebe]

Ej74 said:

2. I want to bring my GTR over to Switzerland, if so what do i need to consider in doing so ? servicing / tax/ insurance / availability of high grade shell fuel/ i understand i need to have owned the car for at least 6 months ?

If you bring the GTR over, it will be in for a treat. Most of the Shell garages here sell VPower 100 RON.

Petrol is one of the few things here that is cheaper than the UK. I walk past my local garage on the way home and 98 RON is CHF1.61 at the moment. For some reason the fuel market is the exact opposite of the UK - the one man band independents tend to be cheaper than the chains and stations in the sticks don't seem the charge a premium either.

[marcusjames]

Whitean3 said:

As for Kanton Zug, this is where all the tax dodgers, with their own libel lawyer, like AndrewD live

EFA

[Ej74]

Thanks for all the help.

The GTR is standard apart froma y pipe !. As far as I see it, is it not as simple as paying the tax/ duty. If the car is ownerd for > 6 months then what is due ?

I would assume need a TUV type test ? does this involve realigning headlights ... and what else and anyone i can speak to for some help ? Can i import the car and pay the duty and drive round on uk plates fo longer than 12 months ?

My office will be based in the generic area listed above, where would you recommend i look for a place to stay that's a nice area with something to do and relatively close no more than 1 hour away ?.

How much higher is the cost of living - please bear in mind i only returned to the UK in July after a 2 yr assignmnet in Singabore. 12 Birds Eye Fish fingers are around 7 GBP.

Health Insurance as i understand is manadatory, what does this actually entitle you to ? hospital , Doctor ?

I'm sure there aren't many GTR's over there and it wil be easily spotted once i arrive...

Cheers again for the help

Edited by Ej74 on Saturday 11th December 09:19

[smilerbaker]

yes you need an mfk, like an mot on steroids, you'll need lhd headlights if you can't adjust yours.

you can drive your uk car here on uk plates and pay nothing except uk road tax for 12 months, just make sure its fully uk legal, so tax insurance and mot, then import it after the 12 months, as long as you owned the car longer then 6 months before you came here then you wont pay any import duty, just the bills to get it through the mfk and swiss road tax, which varies depending on where you live.

cost of living, high! very high!! coming from singabore will cusion the blow for you, the choice in supermarkets here is poor too, and there is very little competition so nothing really changes.

Health care, depends on what you buy, minimnum cover will get you named doctors and named hospitals with a high excess, I wouldn't suggest you go for that!

normal cover is any dr any hospital, depending on how old you are etc it'll be around 300chf, we pay 600 per month for me, my wife and 11yr old son, low excess any hospital and dr etc

cost of living info is on www.englishforum.ch just do a search its been asked and answered a million times on there

[eyebeebe]

Ej74 said:

Thanks for all the help.

The GTR is standard apart froma y pipe !. As far as I see it, is it not as simple as paying the tax/ duty. If the car is ownerd for > 6 months then what is due ?

I would assume need a TUV type test ? does this involve realigning headlights ... and what else and anyone i can speak to for some help ? Can i import the car and pay the duty and drive round on uk plates fo longer than 12 months ?

My office will be based in the generic area listed above, where would you recommend i look for a place to stay that's a nice area with something to do and relatively close no more than 1 hour away ?.

How much higher is the cost of living - please bear in mind i only returned to the UK in July after a 2 yr assignmnet in Singabore. 12 Birds Eye Fish fingers are around 7 GBP.

Health Insurance as i understand is manadatory, what does this actually entitle you to ? hospital , Doctor ?

I'm sure there aren't many GTR's over there and it wil be easily spotted once i arrive...

Cheers again for the help

Edited by Ej74 on Saturday 11th December 09:19

An hour is seen as a long commute over here, but if you are comfortable with it, (dependent where your office is), you could do door to door from Zurich on the train. I don't have experience of rush hour driving, but would have thought you could drive in a similar time. The nearest decent sized town is Luzern - very picturesque and Swiss, but for my tastes a little quiet. I believe taxes are higher there than Zug or Zurich too.

I've seen many more GTRs on the road here than I did in the UK. The place seems to be 50:50 cars are evil/super cars for a daily driver! Someone on this thread's wife said to me that the 911 is the Swiss equivalent of a Ford Focus. Sometimes it feels like she's not joking.

I pay 200 a month for my health insurance and am the opposite of Smilerbaker. I have the highest excess and have named my doctor in advance. My reasons for this were that I have 1200 a year by being willing to take the risk of an extra 2200 in excess if anything does go wrong. That's a risk/reward I'm comfortable with. I also save money by having nominated my doctor in advance. I can still go and see whatever specialists I want etc, but my doctor has to refer me. This is what I was used to in the UK, so was comfortable with it here.

As Smilerbaker says, englishforum is full of useful information on the cost of living. What he didn't say, quite cruelly I think, is that if you go there with the, as you put it, lazy attitude, they will rip you to shreds, be sarcastic and most likely not help you. If you search, search and search again before asking questions and post an introduction to yourself first, they will be much more helpful.

[AndrewD]

eyebeebe said:

Someone on this thread's wife said to me that the 911 is the Swiss equivalent of a Ford Focus. Sometimes it feels like she's not joking.

To be fair, at the time she was angling for a new car wasn't she?

[eyebeebe]

AndrewD said:

eyebeebe said:

Someone on this thread's wife said to me that the 911 is the Swiss equivalent of a Ford Focus. Sometimes it feels like she's not joking.

To be fair, at the time she was angling for a new car wasn't she?

It worked as well. Something tells me you didn't need too much convincing!

[Ej74]

I have read that my UK electronic equipment will work provided i purchase the right power cables for all equipment. Can i simply not use an adaptor and use the existing power lead or is this not recommended ?

Anyone used a partcular issuer for a UK reg car in CH ? mine is trying to charge me 17.50 a week for cover. I will CH reg the car as soon as possible but it may take a few months whilst i settle in.

Places to live based on work location in the 1st post ? any suggestions much appreciated. What's the largest city that i can commute to work from in a reasonable amount of time ?

And again thanks

[AndrewD]

inkiboo said:

I'll go further; most people on englishforum.ch are stuck up know-it-alls. And the rest aren't much better.

That's where I met marcusjames

[eyebeebe]

Ej74 said:

I have read that my UK electronic equipment will work provided i purchase the right power cables for all equipment. Can i simply not use an adaptor and use the existing power lead or is this not recommended ?

Anyone used a partcular issuer for a UK reg car in CH ? mine is trying to charge me 17.50 a week for cover. I will CH reg the car as soon as possible but it may take a few months whilst i settle in.

Places to live based on work location in the 1st post ? any suggestions much appreciated. What's the largest city that i can commute to work from in a reasonable amount of time ?

And again thanks

We use adaptors for most things. You can pick them up in Mediamarkt for CHF7 (I think). Also haven't had any issues plugging UK powerstrips into the adaptors and runing multiple appliances off them.

No idea about insurers.

Being serious - Have you actually visited Switzerland? There are no large cities here. If you are used to London, it may be a bit of a shock to the system. Zurich city is the largest in Switzerland and has 400,000 inhabitants. You could commute from there - As I said before it should take an hour. Luzern is closer and has a population of around 80,000. According to Wikipedia it is the most populous city in central Switzerland. Zug is even closer and has 23,000 inhabitants. www.sbb.ch/en is the national public transport website. You can use it to find journey times and prices. maps.google.ch can help with car commuting times

[Ej74]

Having recently returned from Singapore more people but smaller space - its like living in a box.

Driving from Zurich is estimated at 30 mins is that realistic ?
Train is 41 mins with 1 change.

Visited once many years ago for a few days.

In reality after spending all day at work your going to be at home - whether its here , switzerland or singapore all boils done to the same in reality

[dicktracy]

Ej74 said:

Having recently returned from Singapore more people but smaller space - its like living in a box.

Driving from Zurich is estimated at 30 mins is that realistic ?
Train is 41 mins with 1 change.

Visited once many years ago for a few days.

In reality after spending all day at work your going to be at home - whether its here , switzerland or singapore all boils done to the same in reality

Rush hour that will be closer to an hour i think.

Regarding insurance try zurich connect in Switzerland, they speak english.

[eyebeebe]

Ej74 said:

Having recently returned from Singapore more people but smaller space - its like living in a box.

Driving from Zurich is estimated at 30 mins is that realistic ?
Train is 41 mins with 1 change.

Visited once many years ago for a few days.

In reality after spending all day at work your going to be at home - whether its here , switzerland or singapore all boils done to the same in reality

Half an hour from the centre of Zurich in rush hour. Not a chance. It could take that long to get out onto the motorway with the traffic and roadworks, but no one really lives in the very centre of Zurich. For example I live 7 minutes on the train or 10 on the tram from the main station. That would easily knock 20 minutes off driving to Rotkreuz. If Zurich is where you are starting to think of, my suggestion would be live in one of the villages a little down the west side of the lake from Zurich itself. That way you are close to the motorway already and will pay lower taxes. In order of distance from Zurich you have Kilchberg, Rüschlikon and Thalwil. Thalwil could be ideal for you as there is a direct train to Rotkreuz that takes 25 minutes and there are frequent trains into Zurich that take 10-15 minutes. Driving would be closer to the half an hour suggested by googlemaps too. It's also the largest of the 3 villages.