---
title: "Freelancing in Switzerland: you don't get to decide that you are self-employed 2026 Guide"
url: https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/become-freelance-switzerland-resident-abroad
lang: en
date_modified: 2026-08-13
author: "Brice DELHOME"
---

![A Swiss freelance workstation linked by a bridge to an office on the other side of a border, invoices in francs and a registration stamp, ibani mascot](https://www.ibani.com/images/devenir-freelance-suisse-resident-etranger.png)

🚀 Starting a business

# Freelancing in Switzerland: you don't get to decide that you are self-employed 2026 Guide

 19 min read | Updated on 13 August 2026

Author: [Brice DELHOME](https://www.ibani.com/en/author/brice-delhome)

📌 In Short: freelancing in Switzerland, two routes and a single judge

-   **The rule:** in Switzerland, self-employed status is not declared, it is **granted**. An OASI compensation office awards it by formal decision, based on a body of indicators — several clients, own infrastructure, economic risk. Once recognised, a freelancer pays **10% of net income** to OASI, disability insurance and the loss-of-earnings scheme from CHF 60,500, and is **never insured against unemployment**.
-   **The trap to avoid:** believing you must live in Switzerland, or that you need a company. The criterion is neither nationality nor the client's country, it is **the place where the work is physically carried out**. And two CHF 100,000 thresholds — commercial register and VAT — do not measure the same thing: the second one also counts turnover invoiced abroad. A cross-border commuter employed in Switzerland who opens a micro-business in France falls under **Swiss OASI, not the French system**.
-   **The ibani solution:** collecting francs without a Swiss IBAN costs twice. The **QR-bill only accepts CH or LI IBANs**, and the franc does not circulate in SEPA. On CHF 120,000 of fees, a 2% bank margin takes CHF 2,400 a year, against CHF 360 at 0.30% with [ibani](https://www.ibani.com/en/app), free personal Swiss IBAN included.

**"I'm going freelance in Switzerland." The sentence sounds simple, yet it hides three radically different projects: opening a self-employed activity while living in Geneva, while living in Annemasse, or while living in Lisbon and invoicing clients in Zurich. Three regimes, three permits, three ways of paying contributions — and one common mistake, believing that you decide for yourself that you are self-employed.**

Because in Switzerland nobody declares themselves self-employed. There is no start-up form for a micro-business, no one-stop shop issuing a number in three clicks. What exists is a **decision**: that of an OASI compensation office, which examines your actual activity and recognises you — or not — as self-employed. Everything else follows from it: commercial register entry, VAT liability, legal form, the way you invoice.

This guide follows the path in the order it actually occurs, under the law and figures as at 13 August 2026: which configurations are possible depending on where you live, how to obtain OASI status and avoid reclassification, when a sole proprietorship is enough and when a GmbH becomes rational, when register and VAT obligations trigger, what all of this costs in contributions and taxes, what changes when you live outside Switzerland — and how to get paid in francs without conversion eating your margin.

## Do you have to live in Switzerland to go freelance?

**No. But where you live decides everything else.** The structuring criterion in Swiss law is neither the provider's nationality nor the country where the client sits: it is **the place where the work is physically carried out**, combined with the place of residence. That pair determines the permit required, the office that collects contributions, and the country where profit is taxed.

Three configurations cover almost every real situation. They are not governed by the same law and cannot be freely combined.

| Configuration | Permit required | Social security | Taxation of profit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **A. Resident in Switzerland**
activity carried out in Switzerland | None for a Swiss national or C permit holder; notification of the self-employed activity to the canton for an EU/EFTA B permit | **Swiss OASI** compensation office, 10% of net income | In Switzerland, as income of the individual, at the canton's progressive rates |
| **B. Cross-border commuter**
EU/EFTA residence, activity carried out in Switzerland | **Cross-border permit for self-employment**, issued by the canton, valid 5 years, weekly return home | **Swiss OASI** compensation office | In Switzerland for the Swiss permanent establishment, then declared in the state of residence with the effective-rate method |
| **C. Established abroad**
remote services for Swiss clients | None, as long as no work is performed on Swiss soil. **Notification procedure** as soon as an assignment takes place in Switzerland | Regime of the **state of residence**, evidenced by an A1 certificate | In the state of residence, unless there is a permanent establishment in Switzerland |

### What really separates configuration B from configuration C

This is the most misunderstood part of the subject, and it comes down to a single question: **where is the centre of the activity?** A consultant living in Annemasse who rents an office in Geneva, receives clients there and keeps their equipment there is carrying out a self-employed activity **in Switzerland**: they need a cross-border permit for self-employment and they pay OASI contributions. The same consultant, living in Annemasse but working from their French home for Geneva clients, is carrying out a self-employed activity **in France**: they invoice through their French structure, pay French contributions, and have no Swiss formality to complete.

The cost difference is huge, so is the difference in social protection, and the choice is not free: it follows from the reality of the set-up. Cantonal authorities verify the **Swiss economic base** before issuing a cross-border permit for self-employment — commercial lease, equipment, contracts with Swiss clients, financial projections. A file that only demonstrates an intention is refused.

**💡 The employee who wants to freelance on the side.** This is the most common starting point: you are employed in Switzerland and want to invoice a few assignments as well. Two routes open up, and they have nothing in common. Invoicing **from Switzerland** requires OASI recognition as self-employed, alongside employee status — that is possible and common. Invoicing **from a foreign structure** while employed in Switzerland triggers a specific European rule, covered in section 6: Swiss social security applies to both activities, not that of the country of residence.

## How do you obtain self-employed status in Switzerland?

**By applying to an OASI compensation office, which grants or refuses it by formal decision.** This is the most disconcerting Swiss particularity for anyone arriving from France, Spain or Portugal: there is no activity declaration that would in itself create the status. The office examines the actual activity, and its decision is authoritative for every other administration.

### The membership file: what has to be in it

An application for membership as self-employed is judged on evidence, not on intention. In practice, compensation offices expect:

-   **Several clients, documented:** signed contracts, engagement letters, accepted offers — at least two or three distinct relationships.
-   **The first invoices issued in your own name**, with the address of the activity and the payment details.
-   **A description of the infrastructure:** premises or office, equipment, tools, website, professional liability insurance.
-   **An income estimate for the current year**, which will serve as the basis for calculating contribution instalments.
-   **The commercial register entry** if it already exists, or a statement that it is not required below CHF 100,000 of turnover.

The office then issues a membership decision, which can be appealed. It provides a **certificate of membership** that Swiss clients ask for almost systematically before signing: it is their guarantee against being reclassified as employers.

### The real criteria: a body of indicators, not a checkbox

Compensation offices apply the Federal Social Insurance Office guidelines. No single criterion is decisive; it is the combination that counts. Four families of indicators come up systematically.

| Indicator examined | What points to self-employment | What points to employment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Economic risk** | Own investments, risk of loss, collection in own name, liability towards the client | Guaranteed income, no capital committed, equipment supplied by the principal |
| **Several clients** | Several simultaneous principals, none dominating turnover | A single principal, or one client accounting for nearly all revenue |
| **Infrastructure** | Premises, tools, software and insurance in the freelancer's name | Workstation, badge, e-mail address and equipment of the principal |
| **Work organisation** | Freedom of hours, place and method; ability to subcontract | Instructions, imposed hours, integration into the hierarchy, duty to report |

Swiss fiduciaries use a practical warning signal, which has no force of law but describes the risk zone well: when a single client accounts for more than 80% of turnover, recognition becomes uncertain. It is not a statutory threshold, it is the statistical expression of the economic dependence criterion.

**🚨 Disguised employment is paid for by the client.** If the office considers the relationship to be an employment relationship in substance, it does not turn against the freelancer: it claims **social security contributions from the principal**, retroactively treated as the employer, employer and employee shares included, with default interest. That is exactly why Swiss companies require an OASI membership certificate before engaging a freelancer, and why a freelancer starting out with a single large client is well advised to secure at least a second one before filing the application. Our guide on [invoicing in your own name below CHF 100,000](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/invoicing-freelance-switzerland-vat-ahv) covers the workarounds available during that launch phase, umbrella companies included.

### The case of low-value secondary activity

One exception is worth knowing before starting a procedure: where a person is otherwise in salaried employment, secondary self-employment income **not exceeding CHF 2,300 per calendar year** is in principle exempt from contributions — the office only collects it if the insured person asks. In other words, testing an activity on a very small scale does not require a full file. Above that, membership becomes the rule again, and the minimum contribution is **CHF 530 a year** even on very low income.

## Sole proprietorship, GmbH or AG: which structure at launch?

**To start, a sole proprietorship is enough in the vast majority of cases.** It requires no capital, no notary and no registration as long as turnover stays below CHF 100,000, and it comes into being with the first invoice — subject to the OASI recognition described above. The question of a corporation comes next, on grounds of liability and taxation, never as a matter of principle.

| Criterion | Sole proprietorship | GmbH (Sàrl) | AG (SA) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Minimum capital** | None | **CHF 20,000**, fully paid up | **CHF 100,000**, of which 50,000 paid up |
| **Liability** | Unlimited, against private assets | Limited to share capital | Limited to share capital |
| **Commercial register** | Mandatory from **CHF 100,000** of turnover | Mandatory on incorporation, by notarised deed | Mandatory on incorporation, by notarised deed |
| **Taxation of profit** | Added to the individual's income, progressive rates | Profit tax, then dividend taxed at the partner's level | Profit tax, then dividend taxed at the shareholder's level |
| **Manager's social status** | Self-employed: 10% OASI/DI/LEC, no unemployment insurance | **Employee of their own company**: employee contributions, mandatory occupational pension | Employee of their own company |
| **Company name** | Must contain the holder's family name | Free, with the GmbH designation | Free, with the AG designation |
| **Representation in Switzerland** | The holder must be authorised to work in Switzerland | **At least one person resident in Switzerland** must be able to represent the company (art. 814 para. 3 and 718 para. 4 CO) |

### The three signals that justify moving to a GmbH

Incorporating is not a promotion, it is a trade-off. Three situations make it rational.

**First signal: the risk of causing damage.** A developer delivering critical software, a consultant advising on a seven-figure transaction, an interior architect commissioning building works — all expose their private assets in a sole proprietorship. Unlimited liability is not a legal detail: the family home answers for the debts of the business. Professional liability insurance covers part of the risk, the legal entity covers the rest.

**Second signal: the level of income.** In a sole proprietorship, the whole profit is taxed as personal income at progressive rates, in the year it is earned, whether you consume it or not. In a GmbH, profit bears profit tax — from **11.85% in Zug** to about **20.5% in Bern**, around **14.7% in the city of Geneva**, of which 8.5% is direct federal tax — and the manager then chooses what to draw as salary and what to leave in the company. The dividend is taxed on only **70%** of its amount at the partner's level where they hold at least 10% of capital. That trade-off only becomes attractive above a comfortable profit, and it requires paying a market-conform manager's salary, failing which the tax authority reclassifies the dividend.

**Third signal: a partner or investor joining.** A sole proprietorship cannot be shared or sold: it is inseparable from the person of the holder. As soon as shares have to be split, a third party brought in or a sale prepared, the corporation becomes the only workable structure. Our guide on [setting up a Swiss company and transferring capital](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/create-swiss-company-capital-transfer) covers the escrow account and the incorporation steps, and our guide to [Swiss corporate taxation](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/business-switzerland-swiss-corporate-taxation) lists the cantonal rates.

**🚨 The two nasty surprises of the GmbH for a former freelancer.** First, **a managing partner who controls their own company has no entitlement to unemployment benefits**: the employee status they acquire as an employee of their GmbH does not open that right, since case law considers that they can decide on their own dismissal. Becoming an employee of your own company therefore does not buy back the protection lost by going self-employed. Second, occupational pension cover becomes **mandatory** from CHF 22,680 of annual salary: a new charge, but also pension cover that was missing — and the trade-off is that the pillar 3a ceiling then drops from CHF 36,288 to CHF 7,258.

## When do you need a real structure, commercial register entry and VAT?

**Two obligations trigger at CHF 100,000, and they do not measure the same thing.** This is the most widespread confusion among Swiss freelancers: the commercial register threshold and the VAT threshold carry the same figure, but one counts the turnover of the business, the other worldwide turnover from taxable supplies. A Geneva freelancer invoicing CHF 60,000 to Swiss clients and CHF 50,000 to French clients crosses the VAT threshold without necessarily reaching the register threshold in the same way.

| Obligation | Threshold and basis | Deadline | Legal basis |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Commercial register** | CHF 100,000 of annual turnover of the sole proprietorship; turnovers of several businesses held by the same person **are added together** | On crossing the threshold in the financial year | Art. 36 CRO |
| **VAT liability** | CHF 100,000 of **worldwide turnover** from supplies not excluded from the tax — exports and fees invoiced abroad included | Voluntary notification to the FTA within **30 days** of the start of liability | Art. 10 and 66 VAT Act |
| **Double-entry accounting** | CHF 500,000 of turnover; below that, simplified accounts of income, expenditure and assets are enough | From the financial year following the crossing | Art. 957 CO |

### VAT: 8.1% and two accounting methods

The standard Swiss VAT rate is **8.1%** in 2026, the reduced rate **2.6%** and the special accommodation rate **3.8%**. The liability threshold has not moved: **CHF 100,000**. Once liable, a freelancer chooses between two methods, and that choice has immediate practical consequences.

The **effective method** requires a **quarterly** return: you declare the VAT collected, deduct the input tax paid on business purchases, and pay the difference. The **net tax rate method** is open to taxable persons whose taxable turnover does not exceed **CHF 5,024,000** and whose tax due stays below **CHF 108,000 a year**: you apply to the turnover collected, VAT included, a flat rate specific to your industry — generally between 0.1% and 6.5% — without tracking input tax, and the return becomes **half-yearly**. For a service freelancer with few purchases, that second method sharply reduces the administrative load. For an activity investing heavily in equipment, the effective method recovers more.

**Worked example — is voluntary VAT registration worth it below the threshold?**

A freelance graphic designer in Lausanne invoices **CHF 70,000** a year and is therefore not liable. She considers voluntary registration, which is possible below the threshold. The calculation runs in two steps. On the client side, if her clientele consists of **VAT-registered businesses**, the VAT she charges is neutral for them: they recover it. On the purchase side, she invested this year in a computer, a screen and software for **CHF 9,000** including VAT, i.e. about **CHF 675** of input tax she cannot recover without being registered. Conclusion: with a B2B clientele and regular investments, voluntary registration makes money. With a clientele of private individuals, it raises her prices by 8.1% with nothing in return, and it is better to stay below the threshold.

**💡 Voluntary commercial register entry has a hidden cost.** Below CHF 100,000, entry remains optional, and it brings real advantages: a protected business name, credibility with clients and landlords, easier access to some tender processes. But it also changes the enforcement route: a sole proprietorship entered in the commercial register is **subject to debt enforcement by way of bankruptcy**, not merely by seizure. That is not a reason to abstain, it is a reason to know before signing.

## What do a Swiss freelancer's contributions and taxes really cost?

**Budget 10% of net income for OASI, disability insurance and the loss-of-earnings scheme, plus income tax at your canton's progressive rates — and nothing for unemployment, because there is no unemployment cover.** That is the biggest gap against employee status, and it cuts both ways: social charges are far lighter, and so is protection. The detail of the rates, the sliding scale and the minimum contribution is set out in [leaflet 2.02 on contributions of the self-employed to OASI, DI and the loss-of-earnings scheme](https://www.ahv-iv.ch/p/2.02.e).

| Insurance | Self-employed in 2026 | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **OASI / DI / LEC** | **10.00%** mandatory | 8.10% OASI, 1.40% disability insurance, 0.50% loss-of-earnings compensation, from CHF 60,500 of net income. Sliding scale from **5.371% to 9.321%** between CHF 10,100 and 60,500. Minimum contribution of **CHF 530 a year** below CHF 10,100. Office administration fees on top, up to 5% of contributions |
| **Unemployment insurance** | **Non-existent** | A self-employed person pays nothing and is entitled to nothing. Losing your main client opens no right at all |
| **Accident (UVG/LAA)** | Not applicable | The accident act does not cover the self-employed: you must include accident cover in your health insurance or take out private cover, occupational and non-occupational |
| **Sickness loss of earnings** | Optional | No employer maintains the salary: without insurance, sick leave means an immediate loss of income |
| **Occupational pension, 2nd pillar** | Optional | Membership possible through a professional association's fund or the substitute occupational benefit institution |
| **Pillar 3a** | **CHF 36,288** deductible | 20% of net earned income, capped at CHF 36,288 for a self-employed person **without a 2nd pillar**, against CHF 7,258 for an employee affiliated to a pension fund |

### Pillar 3a is the Swiss freelancer's main tax lever

A self-employed person without a pension fund may pay **20% of net earned income** into pillar 3a, up to **CHF 36,288** in 2026 — five times an employee's ceiling of **CHF 7,258**. The 20% is calculated on net income after deduction of OASI contributions, not on turnover. A little-known consequence: the CHF 36,288 ceiling only becomes binding from **CHF 181,440** of net income, since 36,288 divided by 0.20 gives exactly that figure. Below it, the 20% rule is what caps the payment.

**Worked example — a freelancer at CHF 120,000 of turnover**

A freelance consultant in Geneva invoices **CHF 120,000** over the year and bears **CHF 20,000** of recognised business expenses, i.e. a **profit of CHF 100,000** before social contributions.

**OASI/DI/LEC contributions.** Since contributions are themselves deductible from the determining income, the office retains 100,000 divided by 1.10, i.e. **CHF 90,909**, and levies **about CHF 9,091**, plus the office's administration fees.

**Pillar 3a.** She may pay 20% of CHF 90,909, i.e. **CHF 18,181**, fully deductible — well below the CHF 36,288 ceiling.

**Taxable income.** After contributions and the pillar 3a payment, taxable income falls to about **CHF 72,700**, on which federal, cantonal and Geneva communal taxes apply. Compared with the CHF 120,000 invoiced: between the turnover quoted to the client and disposable income, the gap is around **40%**, expenses, contributions, pension savings and taxes combined.

### The cash-flow trap: provisional instalments

A self-employed person is subject to no withholding at source. They pay **contribution instalments** calculated on an income estimate, and cantonal tax instalments under their canton's rules. The final statement only comes after the tax assessment, often **one to two years later** — and it covers the gap between the estimate and actual income. A first year that beats the forecast therefore produces, two years on, a contribution top-up landing just when the business may have slowed.

The remedy is simple and rarely applied: set aside monthly, in francs, the share earmarked for contributions, VAT and taxes, and tell your compensation office as soon as actual income diverges appreciably from the estimate, so the instalments can be adjusted during the year. Our guide to [multi-currency CHF/EUR accounting](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/multi-currency-accounting-chf-eur) explains how to isolate that reserve when revenue arrives in two currencies, and our guide to [the Swiss three-pillar system](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/the-swiss-three-pillars-system) places pillar 3a in the wider pension picture.

## How do you go freelance while living abroad?

**Everything depends on where you perform the work.** Invoicing a Swiss client from Lisbon, Barcelona or Lyon creates no Swiss obligation. Coming to perform the assignment on site creates one immediately. And being employed in Switzerland while freelancing from abroad triggers a European rule almost nobody anticipates.

### Case 1 — I stay abroad and invoice Swiss clients remotely

This is the simplest configuration: **no Swiss membership, no permit, no registration**. The freelancer invoices through their local structure — micro-business or sole trader in France, autónomo in Spain, trabalhador independente in Portugal — and pays contributions in their country of residence. The Swiss client is just one more foreign client.

Two VAT points remain, and they regularly catch people out. For a business-to-business service, the **place of supply is that of the recipient** (art. 8 para. 1 VAT Act): the service is therefore deemed to be supplied in Switzerland. But a foreign provider supplying in Switzerland only services subject to the [**acquisition tax**](https://www.estv.admin.ch/en/acquisition-tax-vat) is exempt from Swiss VAT liability: it is the Swiss client who self-assesses the tax in their own return. The invoice therefore goes out **without VAT**, with a note explaining the mechanism. The main exception concerns **telecommunications and electronic services supplied to non-taxable recipients** in Switzerland: there, Swiss liability applies from the first franc if worldwide turnover reaches CHF 100,000, with the appointment of a tax representative resident in Switzerland (art. 67 VAT Act).

Second point, useful to avoid putting your client in difficulty: a **non-taxable** Swiss recipient — private individual, association, small structure below the threshold — must itself declare the acquisition tax as soon as it acquires more than **CHF 10,000 per calendar year** of such services, within 60 days (art. 45 para. 2 let. b VAT Act). Warning them in advance avoids an unpleasant administrative surprise.

### Case 2 — I come and perform the assignment physically in Switzerland

As soon as one working day takes place on Swiss soil, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons applies. Cross-border provision of services by a self-employed person from the EU or EFTA is liberalised up to **90 actual working days per calendar year**, and it is subject to a [**notification procedure**](https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-efta/meldeverfahren.html): the self-employed person notifies themselves online with the State Secretariat for Migration, at the latest **eight days before** the activity starts. Beyond 90 days per calendar year, a cantonal permit becomes necessary.

During an inspection, you must be able to **prove self-employed status** in your country of origin: A1 certificate evidencing membership of the foreign social security scheme, entry in the national professional register, contract with the Swiss client. Cantonal tripartite and joint commissions check precisely that point, since bogus self-employment is the main abuse of this procedure.

### Case 3 — Cross-border commuter, I set up my self-employed activity in Switzerland

This is the most demanding configuration and financially the most interesting. An EU/EFTA national resident in a border area can obtain a **cross-border permit for self-employment**, valid **5 years**, issued by the canton where the activity is carried out, provided they return home at least once a week. The file must demonstrate a genuine economic base in Switzerland: premises or office, equipment, contracts with Swiss clients, credible financial projections and, where applicable, commercial register entry.

Once the permit is granted, the cross-border freelancer falls under the **Swiss OASI compensation office** and their profit is taxed in Switzerland as that of the permanent establishment, then declared in the state of residence, which exempts it while applying the effective-rate method. Our dedicated guide on the [self-employed cross-border worker and double taxation](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/cross-border-worker-self-employed-double-taxation) covers that sequence filing by filing, and our guide to [the Swiss G work permit](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/swiss-work-permits-g) sets out the border-area and weekly-return conditions.

**🚨 Case 4 — the costliest trap: employed in Switzerland and self-employed abroad.** A cross-border commuter employed in Switzerland who opens a micro-business in France naturally assumes the French scheme applies to that activity. It does not. **Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004** provides that a person who is employed in one state and self-employed in another is subject solely to the legislation of the state where they pursue the **employed activity**. In other words: income from the French self-employed activity is subject to **Swiss OASI contributions**, to be declared to the Swiss compensation office, not to French contributions. Contributions wrongly paid in France can be reclaimed within **three years** (art. L243-6 of the French Social Security Code), on production of an A1 certificate issued by the cantonal OASI office at the end of the coordination procedure of article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 987/2009. Do not over-generalise: this single-legislation rule applies to **social security**. Taxation remains shared between the two states under the tax treaty — the two logics do not overlap.

## How do you invoice and collect from Swiss and foreign clients?

**The invoice is an exercise in tax law, collection an exercise in plumbing — and it is the second that costs freelancers the most.** Let us start with the invoice, then with what happens between the moment the client pays and the moment the money is available.

### Which VAT to state depending on the client

For a freelancer **registered for VAT in Switzerland**, the treatment depends on the recipient's place and status.

| Client | VAT on the invoice | What to write |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business or private individual **in Switzerland** | **8.1%** | UID number with the VAT suffix, rate and tax amount shown separately |
| Business **abroad**, supply of services | **No Swiss VAT** | The place of supply is abroad: note that the service is supplied abroad, outside the scope of Swiss VAT |
| Private individual **abroad** | To be checked case by case | Some categories of supply follow special rules: the recipient's place is not a universal rule |

In all cases, a Swiss invoice states the provider's name and place with their identification number, the recipient's name and place, the date, the nature and extent of the supply, the consideration, and the VAT rate and amount. Our guide to [cross-border B2B invoicing between Switzerland and the EU](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/cross-border-b2b-invoicing-switzerland-eu) covers the required statements and the matching accounting entries.

### Why collecting francs without a Swiss IBAN costs twice

**First cost: the QR-bill.** Since 1 October 2022, the QR-bill has replaced the red and orange payment slips and is the payment standard in Switzerland. And, as the [Swiss Implementation Guidelines for the QR-bill](https://www.six-group.com/dam/download/banking-services/standardization/qr-bill/ig-qr-bill-v2.4-en.pdf) specify, it only accepts **Swiss or Liechtenstein IBANs**. A freelancer holding only a foreign IBAN cannot issue a QR-bill: their client has to key in an international transfer manually, with the error rate and friction that implies. For a Swiss principal used to scanning a code, that is a reason to prefer the competitor who does present a CH IBAN.

**Second cost: the franc does not circulate in SEPA.** The SEPA area handles the euro. A CHF payment to a foreign IBAN travels over the SWIFT network: correspondent fees, two to four business days of delay, and most often a conversion imposed at the receiving bank's rate — a rate the freelancer neither chose, nor negotiated, nor even saw before the transaction.

| CHF 120,000 of fees converted into euros over the year | Margin applied | Annual cost of conversion |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Retail bank, international transfer in CHF | 2.0% | CHF 2,400, plus the fixed fee per transfer |
| Over-the-counter exchange | 3.0% | CHF 3,600 |
| **ibani** | **0.30%** | **CHF 360, with no transfer fee** |

The gap, **CHF 2,040 a year** against a retail bank, is three weeks of billing for a freelancer at CHF 700 a day. The ibani schedule is tiered: 0.40% up to CHF 10,000, 0.35% from 10,000 to 50,000, 0.30% from 50,000 to 100,000, 0.20% from 100,000 to 250,000, then 0.15% above that. No account opening, account maintenance or transfer fee is added, and the [currency converter](https://www.ibani.com/en/currency-converter) lets you estimate the amount received before committing.

### Do not convert everything: keep a franc reserve

This is the classic cash-flow mistake of the cross-border freelancer. Part of your costs stays denominated in francs whatever your place of residence: VAT paid to the Federal Tax Administration, OASI contribution instalments, cantonal tax instalments if you are taxed in Switzerland, health insurance premiums, Swiss suppliers. Converting 100% of revenue into euros, then converting back into francs to pay those bills, means paying the exchange margin **twice** on the same amounts.

A personal Swiss IBAN lets you keep that reserve in francs and convert only what is genuinely available. Our guides on [transferring your Swiss income abroad](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/transfer-swiss-salary-abroad) and on [buying foreign currency for businesses](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/buying-foreign-currency-companies) set out the trade-offs by volume and regularity of collections.

**💡 The ibani solution:** a free personal Swiss IBAN so you are paid like a local supplier, CHF/EUR conversion at a transparent margin at the moment you choose, and the option of keeping a franc reserve for VAT and OASI instalments. [Open an ibani account](https://www.ibani.com/en/app)

## Which filings do you have to make, and by when?

**Five deadlines structure a Swiss freelancer's year, and none of them is reminded automatically.** Unlike an employee, whose employer handles memberships and withholdings, a self-employed person is their own HR department. Here is the full sequence, in the order it arises.

**Before the first invoice**

-   **Application to join an OASI compensation office**, with evidence of the activity and an income estimate for the year.
-   **Insurance:** professional liability, occupational and non-occupational accident cover, and sickness loss of earnings if the business cannot absorb a period off work.
-   **VAT decision:** assess whether foreseeable worldwide turnover reaches CHF 100,000 over twelve months, and whether voluntary registration pays below the threshold.
-   **Collection:** open the account intended for business revenue and obtain a Swiss IBAN if the clientele is Swiss.

**Then, throughout the activity**

-   **On crossing CHF 100,000:** commercial register entry, and notification to the FTA within **30 days** of the start of VAT liability.
-   **Every quarter** (or half-year under the net tax rate method): VAT return, to be filed within **60 days** of the end of the period.
-   **Ongoing:** OASI contribution instalments and cantonal tax instalments, to be adjusted with the office as soon as income diverges appreciably from the estimate.
-   **Every year:** tax return with the accounts of the business — simplified accounts below CHF 500,000 of turnover, double entry above. It is the tax authority that reports the income to the OASI office, which then issues the final contribution statement.
-   **Retention:** accounting records and supporting documents to be kept for **ten years**.

One last point often overlooked by freelancers based outside Switzerland: the **notification procedure counts actual working days**, not days of presence. Two meetings a month in Geneva use up twenty-four days of the annual 90-day quota — comfortably within the limit, but enough for the count to be worth keeping, failing which the switch to a cantonal permit is discovered too late. Our guide to [Swiss residence and work permits B, C, G and L](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/swiss-residence-work-permits-b-c-g-l) covers all the titles and their conditions.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

### Do you have to live in Switzerland to become a freelancer in Switzerland?

No. Three configurations coexist and they are not governed by the same law. First, a self-employed person resident in Switzerland carries out the activity in Switzerland: they apply to join an OASI compensation office and pay 10% of net income from CHF 60,500. Second, a cross-border commuter can carry out a self-employed activity in Switzerland with a cross-border permit for self-employment, valid for 5 years, provided they prove a genuine economic base in Switzerland and return to their home at least once a week. Third, a freelancer who remains established abroad and invoices Swiss clients remotely has in principle no Swiss obligation at all: they stay covered by their own country's social security and invoice through their local structure. The decisive criterion is neither nationality nor the client's country, but the place where the work is physically carried out and the place of residence. As soon as work has to be performed in Switzerland, the online notification procedure applies, within a limit of 90 actual working days per calendar year.

### How do you obtain self-employed status from the OASI compensation office?

In Switzerland you do not declare yourself self-employed: an OASI compensation office recognises that status by formal decision. You file a membership application with evidence of the activity: signed contracts or accepted offers with several clients, first invoices issued in your own name, a description of premises and equipment, and any commercial register entry. The office applies a body of indicators drawn from the Federal Social Insurance Office guidelines: acting in your own name and on your own account, bearing the economic risk, having your own infrastructure, organising your work freely, and above all serving several clients. A single client accounting for nearly all turnover frequently leads to refusal and reclassification as employment. The consequence then falls on the client, who becomes the employer and must pay social security contributions retroactively, with default interest. Secondary self-employment income not exceeding CHF 2,300 per calendar year is in principle exempt from contributions where the person is otherwise in salaried employment. See our guide on [invoicing in your own name below CHF 100,000](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/invoicing-freelance-switzerland-vat-ahv).

### At what turnover must you register in the commercial register and for VAT?

Both obligations trigger at CHF 100,000, but they do not measure the same thing. Commercial register entry becomes mandatory for a sole proprietorship as soon as annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000, under article 36 of the Commercial Register Ordinance; if the same person runs several sole proprietorships, the turnovers are added together. VAT liability, by contrast, triggers at CHF 100,000 of worldwide turnover from supplies that are not excluded from the tax, under article 10 of the VAT Act: fees invoiced to foreign clients therefore count towards the threshold even though they carry no Swiss VAT. The standard rate is 8.1% in 2026, the reduced rate 2.6% and the special accommodation rate 3.8%. Notification to the Federal Tax Administration must be filed within 30 days of the start of liability, and returns are quarterly under the effective method, half-yearly under the net tax rate method, which is open up to CHF 5,024,000 of turnover and CHF 108,000 of tax due per year.

### Should you set up a GmbH or stay a sole proprietorship?

A sole proprietorship is enough to start: no capital, no notary, simplified accounting below CHF 500,000 of turnover, and OASI recognition that applies immediately. Its drawback is unlimited liability: business debts are settled against private assets. A GmbH costs CHF 20,000 of fully paid-up capital, a notarised deed and immediate commercial register entry, but it ring-fences private assets, allows a trade-off between salary and dividend and reassures large accounts. Three signals justify moving to a GmbH: a real risk of causing damage to clients, income high enough for the salary and dividend trade-off to outweigh profit tax, and the arrival of a partner. Watch two effects of the GmbH: profit bears profit tax, from 11.85% in Zug to about 20.5% in Bern, and the dividend is then taxed at the shareholder's level on 70% of its amount for a holding of at least 10%; and a managing partner who controls their own company has no entitlement to unemployment benefits. See our guide on [setting up a Swiss company](https://www.ibani.com/en/guides/create-swiss-company-capital-transfer).

### How can you collect payments from Swiss clients without a Swiss account?

You need a Swiss IBAN, otherwise the friction is paid for twice. The QR-bill, the mandatory Swiss payment standard since 1 October 2022, only accepts Swiss or Liechtenstein IBANs: a freelancer holding only a foreign IBAN cannot issue one and forces the client into a manual international transfer. On top of that, the Swiss franc does not circulate in SEPA, which is reserved for the euro: a CHF payment to a foreign IBAN travels over the SWIFT network, with correspondent fees, two to four business days of delay and, most often, a conversion imposed at the receiving bank's rate. On CHF 120,000 of fees converted into euros, a 2% bank margin takes CHF 2,400 a year, against CHF 360 with the ibani schedule at 0.30%. A free personal Swiss IBAN with ibani means being paid like a local supplier, keeping a franc reserve for VAT and OASI instalments, and choosing when to convert.