Company formation

The corporate tax rate is collected in Switzerland from companies, based on their net income obtained from business activities during a fiscal year. 

If you decide to establish a business relationship with a Swiss company, you need to find out more about the respective company in order to determine whether to act with caution or whether it is a trusted business partner.

According to a ranking made by Great Place to Work, a firm specialized in conducting employee surveys and cultural analysis in companies all around the world, 29 companies were chosen in 2017 as the best companies to work for in Switzerland. 

If you are not a Swiss citizen, you need a Swiss residency permit to live in Switzerland for a period longer than 3 months. A tourist visa will only allow you a 3-month stay. There are various types of permits and different ways to get them—it all depends on what you want to do in Switzerland.

Switzerland is often considered one of the most suitable locations for incorporating an offshore company along with many other jurisdictions. However, it is a reputable and prestigious jurisdiction with a relatively low tax rate and especially a well-known reputation for the quality and security of its services and is located in the center of Europe.

Each state has the sovereign right to levy taxes, which means that it has to deal with certain tax issues that concern not only its own citizens, but also citizens that are non-residents who occasionally or temporarily earn income in the respective state.

Though not a common process, changing the legal entity structure of a business in Switzerland is possible. Entrepreneurs who have opened a company in Switzerland are allowed to change the legal structure of the company they formed in Switzerland if needed.

In Switzerland, the business culture it is above all other personal relations. The Swiss business values refer to punctuality, sobriety, responsibility honesty and hard work. This is why is important to know the business culture before starting a new business relationship with a Swiss client or partner.  Here are the top 10 things to know about Swiss business culture.

Banks are part of Swiss culture since 16^th century, therefore there is no surprise that the Swiss banking system is one of the biggest strengths of the country. The Swiss banking system is different than other European banking systems because it is based on the universal banking concept. This concept refers to offering all the banking services both commercial and investment. This is so that the risk to be spread over a greater number of business and customers.

More than 60% of the people prefer to rent a house in Switzerland; therefore buying a house is not a common thing. Oddly enough, in some of the most popular Swiss cities such as Zurich, Basel or Geneva, there are even less property owners. The number of property owners is larger in rural areas an lower in popular cities, also due to the constant growth rate of urban population in Switzerland over the last years. Thus, pressure on limited available houses has also increased.