Example of tax declaration calculation

Hi everyone,

I received the results of my first declaration in Switzerland, specifically for Geneva, and I am a bit shocked on the amount of taxes that need to be paid, and I would like to compare to other cantons. I just wanted to ask if these numbers sound right. Also, I would like to get myself well educated on this matters.

Given that we are comparing numbers between cantons, let’s forget about federal part.

For Geneva, to calculate the taxes to be paid (2022), we use this document (single, no kids): [https://www.ge.ch/document/baremes-icc-impots-revenu-fortune-avec-exemples-calcul-2022](https://www.ge.ch/document/baremes-icc-impots-revenu-fortune-avec-exemples-calcul-2022)

Let’s consider a taxable salary of 125,000 CHF after deductions, which could be around 140.000 CHF brutto (I understand it is above average, but without being extremely unreal).

If we calculate using the table for the document provided, we find we have to pay:

* 14,767 CHF (accumulated up to 120,470 CHF taxable salary)
* 724.8 CHF (125.000 – 120,470 = 4,530 @ 16%)

For a total of 15491.8 CHF of taxes

But now it comes this NOTA BENE (at the end of page 3) that says that, to this, you need to add a 47.5% on top of it then remove a 12% of the total and finally add 1% more. And after that you still need to add the communal taxes (which in Geneva is around 45.5% more I think)

So, eventually:

15,491.8 + 7,358 (47.5%) – 2,742 (12%) + 155 (1%) + 7,048 (45.5%) = 27,310.8 CHF

which is almost a 19.5% of the initial salary 140,000 CHF.

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Now, let’s compare it if I was living in Lausanne (in canton Vaud), which it is said to be a bit lower than in Geneva (but still high compared to other cantons in Switzerland).

I think to make the calculations we need to use this file: [https://www.vd.ch/themes/etat-droit-finances/impots/formulaires-directives-et-baremes/baremes](https://www.vd.ch/themes/etat-droit-finances/impots/formulaires-directives-et-baremes/baremes)

Here, it is easier as the final % is already calculated. For 125,000 CHF, it is 9.583%, which makes a base tax of 11,978 CHF.

I read somewhere that this has to be multiplied by 155% for Vaud (but not 100% sure this is true), so we are in 18,565 CHF.

To this, we add the communal tax, which for Lausanne is 78.5% of 11,978 = 9,402 CHF

Adding everything we pay 27,967 CHF, which is a 20% of 140,000 CHF.

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For the sake of completion, let’s add the federal taxes, which are 4,994 CHF for 125,000 CHF taxable income.

Adding this on top of the other two, makes a total paid tax of

* 32,304 CHF in Geneva (23.1%)
* 32,961 CHF in Lausanne (23.5%)

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Of course, one would may want to add the social contributions and pension on top of it to see the real salary that actually reaches one’s account. But for now let’s leave it this way.

So after all this exercise of calculating taxes, could anyone tell me if these numbers sound right, or I have done some important mistakes. Now I should do the calculations in lower-tax cantons like Zug.

Thank you everyone!

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by blas001