When ordinary taxation costs you money

Almost everything written about subsequent ordinary taxation explains how to request it. This page explains when not to. The request is final, it applies to the following years as well, and there are situations in which it costs more than it brings in.

Updated 2026-08-17

Subsequent ordinary taxation replaces the flat-rate deduction with a full tax return. In the majority of cases where the calculation recommends it, it pays off. But it is not an option you try out: once filed, the request can no longer be withdrawn, and for a person domiciled in Switzerland the regime then applies until the end of liability to withholding tax.

This site sells a service that assists with the request. It therefore has an interest in your filing it, and that is precisely why this page exists: a reader who switches wrongly loses more than an unclosed sale costs.

What the request commits exactly

The scope is not the same depending on your domicile. That distinction is the one thing to retain before reading on.

	Domiciled in Switzerland	Quasi-resident domiciled abroad
Withdrawal of the request	Impossible	Impossible
Following years	Regime maintained automatically until the end of liability at source	No effect: each year is decided on its own
Renewal	Unnecessary — it is automatic	Mandatory every year, before 31 March
Full tax return	Every year, income and wealth	Each year requested
Cantonal wealth tax	Becomes due	Depending on the items connected to Switzerland

A quasi-resident therefore takes a limited risk: they decide for one year and start again, or not, the following year. A person domiciled in Switzerland decides for the whole duration of their B permit. That is a difference in kind, not in degree.

Four profiles that lose out

They come up constantly. None of them is marginal, and three of them cannot be seen on a payslip.

1. Taxable wealth

Withholding at source covers income only. It ignores savings, securities, cryptocurrencies, real estate. Ordinary taxation, by contrast, triggers the cantonal and communal wealth tax, which you were not paying until then.

The exemption threshold and the rate vary widely from canton to canton. Assets built up before arriving in Switzerland, an inheritance, or a flat kept in the country of origin are enough to bring out a tax that cancels the gain obtained on income — and it will come back every year.

2. Income and assets abroad

The withholding tariff knows only the Swiss salary. The ordinary return, by contrast, covers your entire worldwide situation. Foreign income is generally not taxed in Switzerland, but it enters into the calculation of the rate applied to the rest: Swiss income is then taxed at the rate of a higher income.

A flat kept in the country of origin combines both effects: its value increases wealth, and its rental value — even if it stands empty — is added to the income determining the rate. This is the configuration in which the gap between the two regimes turns around most violently.

3. A municipality with a high multiplier

The withholding tariff is calculated on a cantonal average of communal multipliers. Ordinary taxation applies the actual multiplier of your municipality. If you live in a municipality that is more expensive than your canton’s average, moving to ordinary taxation makes you lose that difference — mechanically, before any deduction.

The effect runs to hundreds of francs a year, one way or the other. It cannot be guessed: it is calculated with your postcode, as on the canton pages.

4. The single person living close to work

This is the profile the tariff was calibrated for. No children, no childcare costs, a short commute, often no payment into a pillar 3a. Actual expenses stay below the flat rates already built into the tariff, and the return does no more than confirm that you were taxed correctly.

The result is not neutral for all that: you inherit an obligation to file every year, deadlines to meet, and sometimes instalments. An administrative burden for a gain of zero, or even below.

What the tariff already contains

One often reads that withholding tax “allows no deductions”. That is false, and the misunderstanding is behind most regretted requests.

A flat-rate share of professional expenses, calibrated on an average employee.
A flat-rate share of health and accident insurance premiums.
Family allowances, through the choice of tariff and the number of children.
A correction for dual-income couples, built into the corresponding tariff.
Mandatory social and pension contributions, already removed from the determining salary.

What it does not contain: pillar 3a, actual childcare costs, continuing education, second-pillar buy-backs, interest on debts, maintenance payments. The calculation consists in comparing those items with the flat rate, not in adding them up in the abstract — see the deductions in detail.

Decide on a trajectory, not on one year

This is the point most often missed. The calculation is made on a year that has elapsed; the commitment, on the other hand, covers all those remaining before a C permit, a marriage or a departure. A favourable year may be followed by five unfavourable ones.

These events are enough to turn a case around, and none of them is exceptional:

The last child leaves the day nursery: the heaviest item disappears at a stroke.
A loan or a mortgage comes to an end: the deductible interest is extinguished.
You move to a municipality with a higher multiplier.
You move closer to your workplace: travel and meal costs melt away.
Your spouse stops or starts an activity: the applicable tariff changes.
Savings build up, an inheritance arrives: wealth tax appears.
Your income falls: the marginal rate falls with it, and each deduction brings in less.

The right question is therefore not “do I gain this year?”, but “do I gain on average over the years remaining to me on a B permit?”. If you expect a C permit in two years, the horizon is short and the risk limited. If you have eight years left, caution changes sides.

The case of couples

If you are married and live together, taxation is joint: both incomes are added on a single return, and so is the wealth of both spouses. The request therefore commits the couple, not only the person who signs it.

A later separation or divorce does not give the choice back: each former spouse remains subject to subsequent ordinary taxation until the end of their liability to withholding tax. A conversation to have together, before filing.

How to decide without going wrong

01
Calculate the year that has elapsed
With your salary certificate, your municipality and your actual expenses. If the difference is negative or close to zero, the question is settled: do not file.
02
Redo the calculation on an ordinary year
Without the bonus, without the exceptional training, without the day nursery if it is ending. That is the result that counts for the years to come.
03
Add what withholding does not see
Wealth taxable in your canton, assets and income abroad, rental value. These items appear nowhere on your payslip and weigh every year.
04
Estimate the duration
How many years before a C permit, a marriage to a Swiss person or a C permit holder, or a departure? Multiply the annual difference by that number: that is what is really at stake.
05
File only if the margin is clear
A gain of a few dozen francs does not justify a multi-year commitment and an annual tax return. See the complete TOU guide for the procedure itself.

Frequently asked questions

The assessment decision goes against me. Can I still react?

You may lodge an objection against the decision if it contains an error, within the deadline stated on the document. But the objection concerns the calculation, not the regime: it does not restore withholding taxation, and it does not cancel the request.

How long does the TOU apply if I am domiciled in Switzerland?

Until the end of your liability to withholding tax, that is, until you obtain a C permit, marry a Swiss person or a C permit holder, or leave. That can amount to several years.

If my income exceeds the CHF 120'000 threshold, do I still have a choice?

No: subsequent ordinary taxation becomes mandatory, without any step on your part, and remains so thereafter even if your income falls back. The considerations on this page then no longer apply — all that remains is to prepare your deductions carefully.

Can I request the TOU one year and stop the next?

Not if you are domiciled in Switzerland: the regime is maintained automatically. Only a quasi-resident domiciled abroad decides year by year, since they must renew their request each time.

Does the TOU force me to declare my accounts abroad?

Yes. The ordinary return covers all income and wealth, including outside Switzerland. Foreign accounts are moreover reported automatically between administrations: an omission shows.

And if I change canton after filing?

The regime follows you. Jurisdiction lies in principle with the canton where you are domiciled at the end of the tax period, and the taxes already withheld by the other canton are transferred to it. The procedure between cantons is governed by circular no. 35 of the Swiss Tax Conference.