General Information about Company Formation in Switzerland
This is a Country of nearly 8 million people, located in the heart of Europe. It is recognized as an international financial center.
Switzerland is Onshore
Switzerland is composed of several cantons are totaly independent on their corporate tax rates. Switzerland is considered an Onshore country. Some cantons like zoug have a low corporate tax. We create swiss companies in Geneva and Zoug.
There are two types of companies in Switzerland
• SARL (Ltd):
Capital : At least 20 000 CHF (releasable following the constitutions) No minimum, limited liability capital
• Anonymous Company (S.A.)
Capital : 100 000 CHF No minimum, responsability limited to the contributions.
A director of a Swiss company must be a Swiss resident and personal responsibility is involved. You can take a Nominee Director (administrator) but he must be resident in Switzerland.
For the sake of optimization you can totally hold shares of a Swiss company through a holding company in Hong Kong or Europe to avoid withholding tax of 35%, however, we suggest you consult a tax advisor on your country of residence to discuss with him what are exactly your obligations. Please feel free to contact one of our advisors to discuss about it.
1. Time to setup an onshore company in Switzerland: 1-2 Weeks.
2. Accounting is required.
Taxation in Switzerland
The income tax in Switzerland is fixed, but it will vary by region / canton or by where you reside in Switzerland.
It is important to note that if the company releases more than half of its sales abroad, the tax rate will be between 9% and 13%. If you are in this configuration case you will make a specific request to the tax authorities, it is not an automatic process. We suggest you to discuss about it with one of our advisors.
Regarding the Swiss (Geneva) companies with most of their sales in Switzerland, they will be subject to three types of taxes in full range from 20 to 35%.
Taxation on dividends for Swiss companies
With regard to the taxation of dividends for companies, a withholding tax is applied in Switzerland on the payment of dividends to a non-Swiss resident with the exception of the countries on the Euro zone, and Hong Kong.
Again be careful with the types of “offshore installation” with a company such as Hong Kong holding company in order to raise dividends, this can be seen in some countries such as tax evasion or tax avoidance. If you wish to make such an arrangement we suggest you consult a tax advisor in your country of residence.
The accounts in Switzerland
In Switzerland, the fiscal year is calculated between January 1 and December 31. Companies must keep their accounts in accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations. We can take care of the accounting for you.
Swiss VAT
VAT number Switzerland can easily be obtained. It becomes compulsory from CHF 100,000 CA. The VAT rate in Switzerland is very beneficial, it is only 8%.
The main activities that you can take with an company formation in Switzerland:
“Entrepreneurship”
“E-Commerce”
“Consulting”
“Import-Export”
“Detention of real estate property”
“Detention and exploitation of IP”
“Organizing Your Estate”
“Brokerage”