Nobody likes talking about taxes – and much less paying them. But if you live in certain Swiss communities you are likely to get some relief.
Most residents of Switzerland will have a lower tax burden in 2026 thanks to locally approved cuts and an adjustment of taxation to (low) inflation.
Depending on where you live as well as your civil status, the tax breaks will be more or less significant.
Swiss media outlet Watson has calculated how much of a reduction can be expected, using (as you can as well) the official calculator of the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
The calculation takes into account all legal deductions that can be claimed without supporting documentation. Wealth has not been taken into consideration, as its impact is not significant for most taxpayers. Church tax is also not included in the statistics.
Two scenarios
The first calculation concerns a married couple with two children and a gross annual income of 150,000 francs.
Under this scenario, taxes will drop almost everywhere in Switzerland.
Out of 2,121 Swiss municipalities, taxes will go up in only 84 – and in many of them only slighty, with increases in double digits.
In contrast, residents of many other municipalities will see larger cuts.
For instance, under this scenario, a family can expect to pay to 2,000 francs less in Rickenbach (Lucerne).
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Residents of Geneva can look forward to a reduction of at least 1,000 francs in all of the canton’s municipalities.
That’s because voters in Geneva approved their government’s move to cut the personal income tax rates by up to 11 percent in order to boost the purchasing power of middle-class households.
The referendum was held in November 2024, with the new tax law to start in 2026:
READ MORE: How Geneva residents will benefit from lower income taxes
For instance, in the city of Geneva itself, a family of four and an income of 150,000 (as cited above) will be able to save 1,420 francs on their 2026 taxes.
In the German-speaking cantons, Zurich, St. Gallen, and Graubünden, will see tax relief ranging from 500 to 1,200 francs. The same is true for Ticino as well.
Savings of above 1,000 francs are also in store for residents of many communities in Lucerne, Aargau, and Schwytz, with lesser reductions (of several hundred francs) in most of Switzerland’s municipalities.
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Second scenario
Here, the calculation takes into account a single person without children, living alone, whose gross annual income is 80,000 francs.
In this case too, the tax reduction applies to most municipalities, specifically 1,887 out of a total of 2,121.
Geneva is once again the region where the tax bill cut will exceed 1,000 francs, with the largest drop – 1,376 francs – in Meyrin.
In the canton of Zurich, on the other hand, the overall reduction will amount to approximately 250 francs.
Aargau, Bern, and the entire central Switzerland region will see smaller reductions.
However, some municipalities in Vaud, St. Gallen, and Ticino will fare better: in these areas, tax reductions will sometimes exceed 500 francs, while in Valais and Graubünden, they will even reach up to 900 francs.
In other cantons, taxpayers in this category will save only a few dozen francs – still better than nothing.
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Last but not least: Why do tax rates vary so much?
Calculating the tax rate is a complex matter but, generally speaking, municipal rates are based on cantonal taxes – though not only.
They also depend on the public infrastructure in each community — the more schools and hospitals a given town has, and the more developed their public transport system is, the higher the taxes.
That is the main reason why tax rates vary from one community to another within the same canton.
Generally speaking, Zug (as well as all the municipalities within the canton) has the lowest tax rate in Switzerland for all categories of residents – and not just for 2026.
READ MORE: Why does the canton of Zug have Switzerland’s lowest taxes?