2041-AS and 2041-ASK certificate: who submits it, by what date, and what to do if tax has already been withheld

At the end of every year, cross-border workers employed in the canton of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, Valais, Bern or Solothurn, or in either of the two Basels, must give their employer a certificate of French tax residence. Without it, the employer withholds Swiss tax at source on the salary, even though that salary remains taxable in France; the oversight can be put right, but within short deadlines. This guide draws on form 2041-AS and its explanatory notes, the pages of impots.gouv.fr and the directives of the cantons of Vaud, Bern, Solothurn and Basel-Stadt, consulted on 10 November 2026.

1. What is the 2041-AS certificate for?

It proves to your Swiss employer that you are a cross-border worker within the meaning of the 1983 Franco-Swiss agreement. That is the condition for the employer not to withhold tax at source on your salary.

The agreement of 11 April 1983 (in French) between France and the Federal Council, acting on behalf of eight cantons, provides that a cross-border worker's salary is taxable only in their state of residence (art. 1). In return, France pays Switzerland compensation of 4.5% of the gross payroll of these cross-border workers (art. 2). For a resident of France, the Swiss salary is therefore taxed in France, and the Swiss employer withholds nothing.

This exemption is not automatic. The canton must be able to check that it benefits only those who meet the conditions, and to calculate the payroll on which the compensation is based. Hence the certificate: form no. 2041-AS, “attestation de résidence fiscale française des travailleurs frontaliers franco-suisses” (certificate of French tax residence for Franco-Swiss cross-border workers). The Vaud regulation on withholding tax puts it in one sentence, quoted in the Vaud directive for 2026 (in French): an employer that does not receive the certificate is required to deduct withholding tax (impôt à la source).

The G permit does not replace the certificate. It is a residence and work authorisation issued by the cantonal migration office; the Vaud and Bern administrations state that it is not enough to establish cross-border worker status for tax purposes. Our guide to the G permit deals with the authorisation; this one deals with tax.

2. Does it concern you?

Yes, if you live in France, are employed by an employer established in one of the eight cantons of the agreement, and, as a general rule, return to France every day.

Sources: agreement of 11 April 1983, explanatory notes to form 2041-AS (September 2026), BOFiP BOI-INT-CVB-CHE-10-20-60, Vaud directive 2026, IS10 notice of the canton of Bern (from 2025).

• Geneva is not concerned: the canton is not a party to the agreement. A resident of France employed in Geneva is taxed at source in Switzerland and declares this salary in France under “CAS 2” of the 2047-SUISSE schedule, with a tax credit, as explained on the Salariés en Suisse (in French) page of impots.gouv.fr. They have no 2041-AS certificate to provide. Our guide to cross-border worker taxes in Switzerland compares the two regimes.
• Swiss nationals employed in the public sector: a person of Swiss nationality, whether or not they hold dual nationality, who lives in France and works for a Swiss public employer (municipality, public hospital, administration) is taxed at source where article 21 of the double taxation convention applies (explanatory notes to the form; Vaud directive).
• Nights and telework days are counted separately: the 45-night cap is detailed in our guide to non-return days, the 40% cap in our guide to telework for cross-border workers. Since 1 January 2023, the 40% limit has rested on an amicable agreement of 22 December 2022 (in French), which is not limited in time.

It is up to the employer to check that all the conditions are met. The Vaud directive asks it to refuse a certificate that does not satisfy them, and to withhold the tax. An employer that withholds nothing without having sent the certificate to the canton risks having to pay the tax itself (art. 138(1) of the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation, DBG; Vaud directive, section 4).

3. How do you obtain the first certificate?

You fill in form 2041-AS in four copies, your tax office for individuals stamps it, and you give two copies to your employer.

The impots.gouv.fr page devoted to new employees in Switzerland (in French) describes the steps to follow, and the explanatory notes to the form (in French; September 2026 edition) set out the circuit:

1. Download form 2041-AS from impots.gouv.fr and fill in sections I to III: the canton to which the employer belongs, your identity, the employer's name, address and register number, the start date, and the address in France to which you return, as a general rule, every day. Date and sign it. By signing, you undertake to report any change of address to your employer and to your tax office.
2. Send it with your employment contract and proof of address through the secure messaging service of your personal account, under “Demande de documents” (document request), then “Attestation de résidence” (certificate of residence), then “Attestation de résidence fiscale pour les frontaliers franco-suisses” (certificate of tax residence for Franco-Swiss cross-border workers) (“Salariés en Suisse” page of impots.gouv.fr).
3. The SIP stamps section IV, which states the year for which the certificate is valid, keeps its copy and sends the others back to you.
4. Give two copies to your employer: it keeps one (for ten years in the canton of Vaud) and sends the other to its canton's tax administration. Keep the fourth.

This manual circuit applies for the first two years. Nor does your Swiss employer withhold French tax: nothing is deducted from your Swiss salary for France. The explanatory notes to the form advise setting up monthly instalments of French withholding tax in your personal account (“Gérer mon prélèvement à la source”, manage my withholding tax) from the start, to avoid a large adjustment at the end of the following year.

4. By what date must it be submitted?

In the first year, before the first day of the month in which you start; after that, before 1 January each year. A certificate is valid for one year only.

The deadline matters because tax is withheld with every payroll. The canton of Basel-Stadt says so in its 2026 brochure on withholding tax (in German): if the employer does not have a valid certificate when it pays the salary, it withholds the full tax. A certificate submitted on 15 January is late: the employer may withhold tax on the January salary, which will then have to be corrected. If you start on 1 March and obtain the stamp on 20 March, tax is likely to be withheld from your first salary.

Allow time for the stamp: for a first certificate, send your application as soon as your contract is signed, without waiting for your first day of work.

Exchange of salary data: since 2026, employers also send the canton, each year, a statement of the salary data of their employees resident in France, which Switzerland exchanges with France. The first transmission, for 2026, must take place by 28 February 2027 (Vaud directive). It does not replace the 2041-AS certificate.

5. The pre-filled 2041-ASK: when does it arrive, and what if it is missing?

It arrives in the autumn, for the following year, if you declared your Swiss salary under “CAS 1” of the 2047-SUISSE and sent in your salary certificate. Otherwise, you fill in a 2041-AS again.

From the second year of employment, you attach your Swiss employer's annual salary certificate to your income tax return. If you file online, you enter the gross salary in Swiss francs in the section for cross-border employees and send that same certificate through the secure messaging service (explanatory notes, point 5). In the 2047-SUISSE schedule, you tick “CAS 1”, which corresponds to cross-border worker status in the eight cantons; the step-by-step guide from the Haute-Savoie public finance directorate reminds you to check afterwards that the amount has been carried over to boxes 8TJ/8TY.

Once these obligations have been met, the administration sends you a pre-filled certificate, form 2041-ASK, in two copies: one for your employer, and one that the employer sends to the canton. The Vaud directive states that it arrives, in principle, for the third year. It does not need to be stamped by your tax office: you complete it, sign it and give it to your employer before 1 January.

• If the information no longer matches your situation (new employer, new address, new place of work), do not use the 2041-ASK: fill in four copies of a 2041-AS and have them stamped, as for a first application (explanatory notes, point 5).
• If it has not arrived by the end of November, do not wait any longer: have a 2041-AS stamped. Also check your last tax return: the automatic dispatch requires “CAS 1” to have been ticked and the salary certificate to have been sent.
• Check the employer's name and the place of work before submitting it: the town of Yverdon-les-Bains reminded employers in December 2025 that certificates must state the place of work precisely and the employer's exact name.

6. Moving house, new employer, couples: when must the certificate be redone?

As soon as any information on the certificate changes, and for each employer and each spouse who works in Switzerland.

• New employer: the certificate is issued in the name of one employer. When you change jobs, even during the year, you have a new one stamped and give it to your new employer before you start.
• Moving within France: the new address must appear on a new certificate. In the canton of Bern, the employer has 10 days from the time it learns of the move to send it to the canton (IS10 notice, in French). A move to Switzerland ends cross-border worker status.
• Several employers: one certificate for each, according to the Bern notice; the canton of Solothurn accepts a copy given to each employer.
• Couples: if both spouses or partners work in Switzerland, each needs their own certificate. If the French administration issues a single certificate for the household, it must state clearly that it is valid for all members of the household who work in Switzerland (Bern notice).
• Telework: in the canton of Bern, the employer files, together with the certificate, a statement of the number of days worked at home and at the office; in the canton of Vaud, it states the telework rate on the list of cross-border workers that it submits each year.

7. Withholding tax has already been deducted: how do you get it back?

Give the certificate to your employer without delay. Depending on the canton, either the employer corrects its statement and pays the tax back to you (in the canton of Vaud, until 31 March of the following year), or it is up to you to apply for the refund (canton of Solothurn).

As long as the certificate is missing, you bear two taxes on your cash flow if you already pay instalments in France: the Swiss tax withheld from each payslip, and the French tax, to which your salary remains subject if you meet the conditions for the status. The tax withheld is recovered in Switzerland. The procedure depends on the canton:

Sources: Vaud directive 2026 (section 2.4.2) and the ACI leaflet for employers (June 2026); Merkblatt QST 155 of the canton of Solothurn (in German); Basel-Stadt 2026 brochure (in German); IS10 notice of the canton of Bern.

Federal law sets the same deadline. Until 31 March of the year following the date on which the salary fell due, you can ask the cantonal tax administration for a decision on whether, and to what extent, you are liable to withholding tax, in particular if you dispute the tax withheld (art. 137(1) DBG). If too much was withheld, the employer must refund the difference to you (art. 138(2) DBG). In practice:

1. Give the certificate to your employer and ask it in writing to correct its statement and refund the tax withheld.
2. Keep your payslips and the salary certificate, which shows the withholding tax deducted over the year.
3. If your employer has not corrected its statement by early March, do not wait: before 31 March, ask the withholding tax office of your employer's canton yourself for a decision on the tax withheld (art. 137 DBG). Enclose the certificate and the salary certificate; in the canton of Solothurn, add your bank details (IBAN and BIC).

If the tax was withheld under the ordinary scale, our guide to withholding tax scales helps you check the amount deducted.

8. Key points

The 2041-AS certificate is what separates a salary taxed only in France from a salary cut every month by Swiss tax. It only concerns residents of France employed in one of the eight cantons of the 1983 agreement, not Geneva, and is valid for one year only. Forgetting it triggers a deduction that then has to be corrected, within short deadlines.

Three things to do every year: declare your Swiss salary under “CAS 1” of the 2047-SUISSE with the salary certificate, in order to receive the 2041-ASK; submit it before 1 January, or have a 2041-AS stamped if it does not arrive or if your situation has changed; claim back any tax withheld without delay, and by 31 March of the following year at the latest.

9. Frequently asked questions