Tax number

Steps

1. Register with your commune (sheet CH-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). The AVS number is in principle assigned automatically when you settle in Switzerland.
2. If no number is assigned automatically, your employer registers you with an AVS compensation fund (caisse de compensation), which requests the number; your educational institution (university…) requests it for foreign students. Health insurers (caisses-maladie) can only request one for people without recognised status.
3. You will find it on your health insurance card. If the card has not yet been issued, contact your health insurer. If you are not insured against illness in Switzerland, the OFAS says to request it from your employer (if you are an employee), from the competent AVS compensation fund (if you are self-employed), from your commune of residence (if you live in Switzerland without working there) or from your educational institution (if you are studying).
4. Taxes: if you are a foreign employee domiciled in Switzerland without a C permit, your employer withholds tax at source and pays it to the canton (unless you live in a joint household with a Swiss spouse or a C permit holder). You can request a subsequent ordinary assessment (taxation ordinaire ultérieure) from your canton's tax office, up to 31 March of the following year; it is compulsory if your gross income reaches an amount set by the Federal Department of Finance with the cantons, or if you have income not subject to tax at source (art. 89 and 89a LIFD).

Documents

• None for the AVS number: it follows from your settling in Switzerland.
• For the subsequent ordinary assessment: the canton's "Demande de taxation ordinaire ultérieure" form.

Costs and timelines

• AVS number: free, in principle automatic.
• Format: 13 digits, starting with 756. It is generated at random and contains no personal data.
• Rate of tax at source: set by each canton.

Common pitfalls

• Ordering an "AVS insurance certificate". It is not issued automatically and is not needed for your procedures. Beware of fake emails announcing an "expired" AVS certificate: the OFAS recommends not clicking on their links.
• Giving your AVS number to just anyone. Its systematic use outside the AVS is reserved for the authorities and for cases provided for by law.
• Forgetting the subsequent ordinary assessment. If you want to be taxed under the ordinary procedure, the request must be made by 31 March of the following year at the latest; after that, the canton sends you the forms every year.
• Believing there is a single tax. The rate of tax at source depends on the canton, and practice varies from one canton to another.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EFTA citizens: AVS number assigned on settling. With an L or B permit, tax at source in principle; with a C permit, ordinary assessment.
• Swiss citizens: not applicable (number assigned at birth).
• British citizens (Scots included): the same AVS number once settled in Switzerland with a residence permit; the same rules on tax at source as long as they do not have a C permit.