Every morning, hundreds of thousands of people cross a border to go to work in Switzerland, and every evening they cross back. For them the question is not "how do I settle in Switzerland" but "which country's rules apply to what". The answer varies with the item: the permit, tax, health insurance, unemployment, the car. This article sets out the main rules for cross-border commuters from the EU and EFTA, as published by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), the tax administrations and the cantons.
Who counts among cross-border commuters in Switzerland?
Cross-border commuters in Switzerland hold the G permit, which is for EU or EFTA nationals who live in an EU or EFTA state and work in Switzerland. According to the SEM:
- for a contract of under one year, the permit is valid for the duration of the engagement;
- for a contract of one year or more, it is valid five years;
- the holder must return to their main home abroad at least once a week.
Work up to three months in a calendar year needs no permit at all, but the employer must notify it online beforehand (the notification procedure). For the broader permit system, see Swiss residence permit for EU citizens.
Where do you pay tax as a cross-border worker?
It depends on your country of residence, and for France on the canton where you work. The double taxation conventions decide who taxes what.
France. If you work in Geneva, your salary is taxed at source in Switzerland. If you work in one of eight cantons covered by the 1983 agreement (Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Jura, Bern, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn), you are in principle taxed in France. To make that work, you give your Swiss employer the 2041-AS certificate of fiscal residence, certified by your French tax office: two copies for each employer, before your first day of work and then before 1 January of each following year. After the first years, a pre-filled version (2041-ASK) can be sent to you automatically; if it does not arrive, ask your tax office for it. You must also, as a rule, return home every day (see the traps below).
Germany. A cross-border worker who returns home regularly is taxed in Germany. Switzerland withholds at most 4.5% of gross salary at source, on presentation of a residence certificate from the German tax authority. The status is lost if you do not return home for more than 60 working days a year because of your work (article 15a of the convention).
Austria. There is no special cross-border regime: the salary is taxed in Switzerland, where the work is done (article 15), and Switzerland pays Austria 12.5% of the income tax it collects from cross-border workers living there.
Italy. A separate agreement fixes particular rules, with a list of communes published by the FTA. Check yours.
Cross-border tax mixes treaties, canton lists and certificates with deadlines. Moovy can help you identify which rule is likely to apply and which form to request from whom, though the tax authorities of the two countries decide in the end.
What about teleworking?
Teleworking matters most in the French case. The amendment of 27 June 2023 to the France-Switzerland convention has been in force since 24 July 2025, and the Federal Tax Administration says it is applicable since 1 January 2026. Pay for teleworking from France for a Swiss employer is taxable in Switzerland up to 40% of working time per calendar year, and Switzerland pays France a compensation of 40% of the tax on those days. Above 40%, ordinary rules apply from the first day of teleworking, and the teleworked days are taxable in France. For the eight cantons of the 1983 agreement, that agreement applies first: under amicable agreements of 2022 and 2023, telework of up to 40% of working time, temporary missions abroad included, keeps the cross-border status.
For other countries, check the convention and the tax authorities before agreeing to a teleworking arrangement with your employer.
How do you start a cross-border job, step by step?
- Check your status. You live in an EU or EFTA country and will return home at least once a week.
- Get the contract. Your Swiss employer files the permit request with the cantonal office, or notifies the stay online for work of up to three months.
- Find out the tax rule that applies to your country of residence and, for France, to your canton of work. Request the 2041-AS certificate before you start if you are French and work in one of the eight cantons.
- Settle your health insurance with the Common Institution LAMal or your national system, as the rules provide.
- Open a Swiss account for the salary, and keep your home account for local bills.
- Keep a calendar of your teleworking days, if your contract allows any, and of your nights in Switzerland.
Cross-border commuters in Switzerland who keep a record of their days and certificates from the first month avoid most disputes with either tax office.
What are the traps for tax status?
- Geneva is not in the 1983 agreement. A cross-border commuter in Geneva is taxed in Switzerland, unlike one from Lausanne or Basel.
- The days you do not go home. For the eight cantons, you must as a rule return home every day. A full-time worker employed all year may skip the return on up to 45 days a year, at most one per week; part-timers get proportionally fewer. Beyond that, you lose the cross-border tax status.
- Pillar 3a deductions are only possible if you are assessed under the ordinary procedure.
- Declaring everything in your country of residence: the convention decides who taxes and how the other country avoids double taxation.
The rules depend on your country, your canton of work and your teleworking days. Before you sign a contract or agree to telework, have your situation confirmed by a tax adviser who knows both countries, or by the tax offices concerned.
How does health insurance work for cross-border commuters?
Swiss law lets the Federal Council extend the insurance obligation to people who are not domiciled in Switzerland but work or stay there regularly, such as certain cross-border workers (article 3, paragraph 3 of the LAMal). Exemptions are possible in cases provided by the rules, using European forms. Which system applies depends on your country of residence, so ask the Common Institution LAMal, which lists the situations. Do not assume that you are covered by your home system. See health insurance in Switzerland.
What if you lose your job?
Ask for the PDU1 form (the Geneva canton page explains how to obtain it) to register for unemployment in your country of residence. Complete unemployment benefit is paid by your country of residence on that basis. Details are in working in Switzerland as an EU citizen.
What about currency and where you spend?
You are paid in Swiss francs and you often live and spend in euros, so each month's conversion has a cost. Compare what your bank charges for the exchange rate and for transfers rather than just the account fee. Keep in mind too that the cost of living in the border region where you live, and the cost of commuting, are part of the real value of a Swiss salary. See cost of living in Switzerland.
What about your car and your bank?
Your car and your licence stay in your country of residence. A car belonging to a person domiciled abroad and used by that person enters Switzerland under temporary admission without duty. If you work or study in Switzerland and use it there for more than six months in a year, you need a customs permit 15.30 from a Swiss border customs office, and you should ask the cantonal vehicle office whether you also need Swiss plates. See driving licence in Switzerland.
Your Swiss account receives your salary; your foreign accounts often have to be declared in your country of residence. EU or EFTA commuters with a G permit can also buy a second home in the region where they work without authorisation, provided they live in it themselves (Lex Koller, article 7). Read bank account in Switzerland.