Tax residence in Switzerland for Indian residents and NRIs

Switzerland treats you as tax resident if you settle there or stay 30 days while working (90 days without). India looks only at your days in India in its tax year from 1 April. If both treat you as resident, Art. 4(2) of the India–Switzerland Agreement of 1994 decides; with a B or L permit your Swiss employer usually withholds tax at source.

Check your status: India and Switzerland

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Indian income-tax law, compared with the law of Switzerland and the tax treaty.

When Switzerland treats you as a tax resident

Switzerland treats you as resident if you have a tax domicile there (Wohnsitz: a home with the intention of staying, the centre of your life) or, already, if you stay 30 days while working or 90 days without working.

A home and family in Switzerland establish a tax domicile (Wohnsitz): you are a Swiss resident with unlimited tax liability (federal, cantonal and communal income taxes on worldwide income).
You stayed in Switzerland at least 30 days while working (or 90 days without working) — a tax stay (Aufenthalt): you are a Swiss resident from the first day of your stay.

When you are a nonresident

A stay solely for study or medical treatment does not create Swiss residence (Art. 3(4) DBG).
The 30/90-day thresholds are not met and you have no Wohnsitz — you are not a Swiss resident. Salary for work physically performed in Switzerland is taxed there if a Swiss employer or a Swiss permanent establishment pays it (tax at source). With a non-Swiss employer, Art. 15(2) of the India–Switzerland Agreement applies (183 days in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned).

Where the rules of Switzerland clash with Indian tax rules

Dual residence: Switzerland and India both tax you as a resident. Switzerland taxes you on worldwide income once you have a Swiss Wohnsitz or a tax stay of 30 days with work (90 without). India decides residence by days only: 182 days or more in India in the tax year (1 April – 31 March), or 60 days plus 365 days in the four preceding tax years; for an Indian citizen leaving India for employment abroad only the 182-day test applies, and for an Indian citizen or person of Indian origin visiting India the 60 days become 120 days (with Indian income above ₹15 lakh) or do not apply at all (s. 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025). A home or family in India is not itself a test. The tie-breaker in Art. 4(2) of the India–Switzerland Agreement then decides treaty residence: permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode (also where you have a permanent home in neither State) → nationality → mutual agreement.
Switzerland treats you as resident after 30 or 90 days. Switzerland needs only 30 days of presence while working (90 without), even with temporary interruptions. A hotel or temporary accommodation is not a permanent home for the treaty: if your only permanent home is in India, Art. 4(2) of the Agreement makes you an Indian resident, and Switzerland may then tax salary for your Swiss workdays only under Art. 15(2) — more than 183 days in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, or a Swiss employer or Swiss permanent establishment bearing the pay.
Family in Switzerland. For Switzerland, married persons have their Wohnsitz where the joint family home is. If you have a permanent home in both countries, Art. 4(2)(a) of the India–Switzerland Agreement looks to the centre of vital interests — and a family living in Switzerland pulls it there, even if your days in India keep you resident under Indian law.

What else to know

Year of arrival or departure: Switzerland taxes from the day you arrive, India for the whole tax year. Swiss liability runs from the day you acquire Wohnsitz or Aufenthalt until you leave (pro rata), with the rate set on annualised income. India has no split year: your Indian status covers the whole tax year from 1 April to 31 March, and the Swiss calendar year cuts across two Indian tax years.
Tax at source (Quellensteuer) for B- and L-permit holders. As an Indian national you will normally hold a B (residence) or L (short-term) permit rather than a C (settlement) permit, so a Swiss employer withholds income tax at source from your salary. With gross income of CHF 120,000 or more an ordinary assessment (tax return) is mandatory; below that you can request one by 31 March of the following year, irrevocably. If your employer has no seat or permanent establishment in Switzerland (e.g. an Indian employer while you work remotely from Switzerland) and no Swiss establishment bears the salary, nothing is withheld and you are taxed by ordinary assessment. Keep Swiss withholding statements and assessments: you need them for Form No. 44 if you claim credit in India.
Salary for work in Switzerland while India is your state of residence. If India is your treaty residence, Switzerland may tax salary for work physically performed in Switzerland only if you are present there more than 183 days in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, or the employer is Swiss-resident, or a Swiss permanent establishment bears the cost (Art. 15(2)). India then deducts the Swiss tax up to the Indian tax on that income (Art. 23(1)(a); s. 159 of the Income-tax Act, 2025; Form No. 44 under rule 76).
Swiss lump-sum taxation (Pauschalbesteuerung) and the India–Switzerland Agreement. Non-Swiss nationals moving to Switzerland for the first time (or after 10 years away) who do not work in Switzerland can, in most cantons, be taxed on their living expenses instead of income and wealth (federal minimum base CHF 434,700 for 2025, or seven times annual rent if higher). Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden do not offer it. Unlike some Swiss treaties, the India–Switzerland Agreement has no special residence rule for lump-sum taxpayers; whether India accepts such a person as a Swiss treaty resident, and whether the lump-sum tax can be credited in India, was not verified — take advice before choosing it, especially if you still spend 182 days or more in India.
Which India–Switzerland treaty text applies. The Agreement of 2 November 1994 applies, as amended by the Protocols of 16 February 2000 and 30 August 2010 (the latter in force on 7 October 2011, mainly exchange of information). The tie-breaker is Art. 4(2). Switzerland applied the most-favoured-nation clause of the Protocol unilaterally for some years and suspended this for dividends in December 2024; this affects withholding rates, not residence.
Social security: India–Switzerland agreement. India's social security agreement with Switzerland has applied since 29 January 2011 and provides for totalisation and export of benefits (EPFO). Posted employees can obtain a certificate of coverage from EPFO; the maximum detachment period is not stated in the EPFO table — check the agreement before a posting. Coverage is decided under this agreement, not the tax treaty.
Cantonal and communal tax dominate. Swiss residence is determined by the same criteria for federal, cantonal and communal tax, but most of the income tax burden is cantonal and communal, and rates differ widely between cantons and municipalities.

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Agreement between the Republic of India and the Swiss Confederation for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income, signed at New Delhi on 2 November 1994, as amended by the Protocols of 16 February 2000 and 30 August 2010. The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

Terms you will come across in Switzerland

Wohnsitz: tax domicile — staying with the intention of settling permanently
Aufenthalt: tax stay — 30 days with gainful activity or 90 days without
Quellensteuer: income tax withheld at source from salaries of foreign workers without a C permit
Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand: lump-sum taxation on living expenses for non-Swiss nationals without gainful activity
Staats- und Gemeindesteuern: cantonal and communal taxes — the bulk of Swiss income tax
Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung: certificate of Swiss tax residence

Questions

Which treaty applies between India and Switzerland?

The Agreement signed at New Delhi on 2 November 1994, as amended by the Protocols of 2000 and 2010. Dual residence is resolved by Art. 4(2): permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, mutual agreement.

Can Switzerland tax my salary if I work there only briefly?

If India is your treaty residence, only if you are present more than 183 days in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, or a Swiss employer or Swiss permanent establishment bears the pay (Art. 15(2)).

Does the treaty say anything about Swiss lump-sum taxation?

No. Art. 4 of the India–Switzerland Agreement has no special rule for lump-sum taxpayers; how India treats such a person has not been verified, so take advice before choosing it.

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

Art. 3 DBG (SR 642.11) — Unlimited tax liability applies to anyone with a Swiss tax domicile (Wohnsitz: staying with the intention of settling permanently) or tax stay (Aufenthalt): at least 30 days with gainful activity or 90 days without, regardless of temporary interruptions. A stay solely for study or medical treatment does not create residence.
Art. 3 StHG (SR 642.14) — Cantons and municipalities apply the same criteria (Wohnsitz; 30/90 days). Most of the income tax burden is cantonal and communal tax.
Art. 83, 89, 91 DBG — Foreign employees without a settlement permit (C permit) — e.g. holders of B or L permits — who have Wohnsitz or Aufenthalt in Switzerland pay tax withheld at source (Quellensteuer). With gross income of CHF 120,000 or more, or income not subject to withholding, an ordinary assessment follows.
Art. 15(2) India–Switzerland Agreement (1994) — Remuneration for employment exercised in the other State is taxable only in the State of residence if the recipient is present in the other State for not more than 183 days in aggregate in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, the employer is not a resident of the other State, and the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base of the employer there. 'Fiscal year' means for India the previous year (now the tax year) and for Switzerland the calendar year (Art. 3(1)(k)).
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 6(1)–(2) — Residential status is determined for each tax year. An individual is resident in India in a tax year if in India for 182 days or more in that year, or for 60 days or more in that year and 365 days or more in the four years preceding it.
Art. 4(2) India–Switzerland Agreement (1994) — A dual-resident individual is deemed resident of the State where he has a permanent home available; if in both, where his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); if that cannot be determined, or if he does not have a permanent home available in either State, where he has an habitual abode; if in both or neither, the State of which he is a national; otherwise the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.
Art. 8, 40 DBG — Liability begins on the day Wohnsitz or Aufenthalt is acquired and ends on departure; in a partial year only income for that period is taxed (pro rata).
ESTV, Circular No. 45 (12.06.2019) — Tax at source is withheld only by a payer with its seat or a permanent establishment in Switzerland; where there is no such payer, nothing is withheld and the income is taxed by ordinary assessment (sections 2.2.1, 3.2.1).
Art. 4, 9, 10 QStV (SR 642.118.2) — Salary from an employer not resident in Switzerland is taxed by ordinary assessment, not at source, unless a Swiss permanent establishment bears it (Art. 4). Ordinary assessment is mandatory from CHF 120,000 of income (Art. 9); below that it can be requested by 31 March of the following year, irrevocably (Art. 10).
Art. 23(1)(a) India–Switzerland Agreement (1994) — India allows as a deduction from the tax on the income of a resident of India an amount equal to the Swiss income tax paid on income which may be taxed in Switzerland, capped at the part of the Indian tax attributable to that income.
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 159 — The Central Government may enter into agreements for relief from double taxation and avoidance of double taxation; where an agreement applies, the Act applies only to the extent more beneficial to the assessee (s. 159(4)). A non-resident may claim treaty relief only with a certificate of residence from the other country's government and the prescribed documents and information (s. 159(8)).
Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 76; Forms No. 44 and 45 — A resident gets credit for foreign tax in the tax year in which the income is taxed in India; credit is the lower of the Indian tax on that income and the foreign tax, per source and per country; not against interest, fees or penalties; disputed foreign tax only after settlement (Form No. 45, within 6 months of the month of settlement). Form No. 44 with a certificate of income and tax and proof of payment, within 12 months from the end of the tax year if the return was filed on time; accountant verification if foreign tax is ₹1,00,000 or more. Conversion at the TT buying rate.
Art. 14 DBG; ESTV Steuermäppchen 2025 «Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand» — Lump-sum taxation (taxation according to expenditure) is available only to persons who are not Swiss citizens, become subject to unlimited Swiss tax liability for the first time or after at least ten years' absence, and have no gainful activity in Switzerland (spouses must both qualify). Federal minimum base for 2025: CHF 434,700 or seven times the annual rent/rental value, whichever is higher; a control calculation applies. Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden do not offer it; Basel-Landschaft only transitionally. Where a treaty requires it, the base is extended to treaty-state income (Art. 14(5) DBG).
ESTV — country page India (agreements, protocols, MFN notices) — Agreement of 2.11.1994 (SR 0.672.942.31), in force 30.12.1994; Protocol of 16.2.2000, in force 20.12.2000; Protocol of 30.8.2010, in force 7.10.2011; mutual agreement of 20.4.2012 on para. 10(b) of the Protocol; MFN notices of 13.8.2021 (updated 11.12.2024) and suspension of the unilateral MFN application for dividends (December 2024).
EPFO — Brochure on International Workers (17.08.2022), table of operating social security agreements — India's operating social security agreements with date of effect, detachment period, totalisation and export of benefits: Germany — 01.10.2009, detachment 4 years; Switzerland — 29.01.2011 (no detachment period stated in the table); Austria — 01.07.2015, detachment 5 years; all three with totalisation and export of benefits. Neither the United States nor Ukraine is among the 20 agreements listed.
Art. 23 India–Switzerland Agreement (1994) — India: deduction from Indian tax equal to the Swiss income tax paid on income which may be taxed in Switzerland, capped at the Indian tax attributable to that income (para. 1(a)). Switzerland: income which may be taxed in India is exempt, but may be taken into account for the rate on the remaining income (para. 2(a)); for dividends, interest, royalties and fees for technical services taxable in India, relief on request by a credit, a lump-sum reduction of Swiss tax or a partial exemption (para. 2(b)).
Art. 4(2)(a) India–Switzerland Agreement — An individual resident of both States is deemed resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has one in both States, of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests).
Art. 4(2)(b) India–Switzerland Agreement — If the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he does not have a permanent home available to him in either Contracting State, he is deemed resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode.
Art. 4(2)(c)–(d) India–Switzerland Agreement — If he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he is deemed resident of the State of which he is a national; if he is a national of both States or of neither, the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.

Case law

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht), 2C_480/2019, 12/02/2020 — Tax domicile (Wohnsitz) is where a person stays with the intention of remaining permanently and which has become the centre of their life interests; a flat abroad without evidence of actual living there and a postal address do not prove a move of that centre; Wohnsitz normally requires a horizon of at least one year.
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht), 9C_496/2023 (BGE 150 II 244), 29/02/2024 — A transfer of Wohnsitz is recognised if, overall, the ties to the new place are more important, even if a Swiss home is kept. Wohnsitz normally requires an intended stay of at least one year, and an intention to move on later does not exclude it. In international cases the family's place of residence does not automatically prevail.
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht), 9C_702/2024, 13/01/2026 — Tax domicile follows the objective centre of life interests, not registration: a room without a signed lease, rent paid in cash and no evidence of moving while the former home is kept point to a fictitious residence; refusal to produce documents may be held against the taxpayer. (Inter-cantonal dispute; same criteria as Art. 3 DBG.)
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht), 2C_398/2021, 23/12/2021 — Married taxpayers normally have their Wohnsitz at the place of the joint family home (Familienort).
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht), 2C_186/2020, 28/12/2020 — The tax stay (Aufenthalt) ended on departure, so liability applied pro rata for part of the year, not for the whole year.

Updated 04/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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