How Long do Swiss Work for the State Each Year?

March 11, 2026 - Daniel Dreier

Taxes take a big bite out of the annual incomes of Switzerland’s residents. This article shows how many days per year Swiss work just to cover the cost of taxes.

Every year, part of the income we earn goes to the government by way of taxes. This article shows you how long residents of Switzerland have to work every year to cover the cost of Swiss federal, cantonal, municipal, and church taxes on their income. The work day in a calendar year when you stop working to pay your taxes and start working for your own income is often referred to as Tax Freedom Day.

There are many factors which affect when you, personally, can celebrate Tax Freedom Day. Your income, civil status, place of residence, and whether or not you have children are some of the most important criteria.

The median gross annual salary in Switzerland is just over 80,000 Swiss francs for a person working fulltime. A single person without children living in one of the 26 cantonal capitals has to work between 18 days (Zug) and 63 days (Neuchâtel) to cover the cost of income taxes.

Table 1: Single adult without children, with 80,000-franc gross income

Town	Canton	Tax Freedom Day	Number of days
Zug	ZG	January 19	18
Schwyz	SZ	January 31	30
Appenzell	AI	February 6	36
Zurich	ZH	February 10	40
Altdorf	UR	February 11	41
Schaffhausen	SH	February 11	41
Sarnen	OW	February 12	42
Stans	NW	February 12	42
Chur	GR	February 12	42
Aarau	AG	February 14	44
Lucerne	LU	February 14	44
Glarus	GL	February 15	45
Bellinzona	TI	February 15	45
Frauenfeld	TG	February 16	46
Sion	VS	February 16	46
Herisau	AR	February 20	50
Basel	BS	February 21	51
Delémont	JU	February 22	52
Geneva	GE	February 23	53
St. Gallen	SG	February 23	53
Fribourg	FR	February 25	55
Liestal	BL	February 25	55
Lausanne	VD	February 26	56
Bern	BE	February 27	57
Solothurn	SO	February 28	58
Neuchâtel	NE	March 5	63

Tax burden for the 2025 tax year. Source: Steuerverwaltung Kanton Schwyz.

For other scenarios too, Zug often has the best tax conditions. Neuchâtel, on the other end of the spectrum, is the town in which residents spend the most time working for the state. But there are also locations which can have much lower or higher taxes depending on your situation. For example, a single adult living in Altdorf, the cantonal capital of Uri, will reach Tax Freedom Day exceptionally early on in the year (table 1). But for a couple with two children, only one working parent, and the same 80,000-franc income, Altdorf is on the bottom half of the list (table 2).

Table 2: Couple with 2 children, with one CHF 80,000-franc gross income

Town	Canton	Tax Freedom Day	Number of days
Zug	ZG	January 2	1
Geneva	GE	January 3	2
Schwyz	SZ	January 5	4
Basel	BS	January 6	5
Chur	GR	January 6	5
Bellinzona	TI	January 7	6
Sion	VS	January 9	8
Stans	NW	January 12	11
Schaffhausen	SH	January 12	11
Aarau	AG	January 13	12
Frauenfeld	TG	January 13	12
Liestal	BL	January 13	12
Zurich	ZH	January 13	12
Lucerne	LU	January 14	13
St. Gallen	SG	January 14	13
Lausanne	VD	January 14	13
Appenzell	AI	January 15	14
Solothurn	SO	January 16	15
Altdorf	UR	January 17	16
Fribourg	FR	January 18	17
Glarus	GL	January 18	17
Delémont	JU	January 19	18
Herisau	AR	January 21	20
Sarnen	OW	January 21	20
Neuchâtel	NE	January 23	22
Bern	BE	January 25	24

Tax burden for the 2025 tax year. Source: Steuerverwaltung Kanton Schwyz.

Having kids makes a big difference with regards to income taxes. While a couple with two children (table 2) spend between 1 day (Zug) and 24 days (Bern) out of the year working for the state, the same couple without children would work between 9 days (Zug) and 42 days (Bern, Neuchâtel) to pay their income taxes.

That also means that from a tax perspective, getting married can make financial sense for couples in which only one partner earns an income – even if they do not want to have children. A single adult without children earning 80,000 francs per year has to spend between 18 days (Zug) and 63 days (Neuchâtel) per year working for the state (table 1). So, in the city of Zug, reaching Tax Freedom Day takes twice as long for an unmarried couple as it does for a married couple.

Are taxes a waste of money?

The concept of Tax Freedom Day suggests that you have to work part of the year without any compensation. That is because this concept does not account for the services which are financed using the taxes you pay. You may feel upset about having to turn over a large chunk of your income to the state, but that money is not simply thrown away without getting anything for it. If you use Swiss infrastructure or educational facilities, for example, you are directly profiting from the taxes which you and other residents pay.

On the other hand, the federal government is criticized for things like unnecessary bureaucracy and excessive salaries for officials. Factors like these can impact how effectively your tax money is spent.

The more you earn, the longer you work for the state

The figures clearly show that you are taxed much more heavily if you earn more. A single adult without children who earns a gross income of 50,000 francs per year has to work between 10 days (Zug) and 47 days (Neuchâtel) to cover their income taxes. If the same adult earned 150,000 francs per year, they would only reach Tax Freedom Day after between 35 days (Zug) and 87 days (Neuchâtel). If they lived in Neuchâtel, they would work almost the entire first quarter of the year to pay their taxes.

Here is an even more extreme example: A person with an income of 1 million francs per year living in a cantonal capital would have to work between 75 days (Zug) and 143 days (Geneva) out of the year just to cover the cost of income taxes. So residents of Geneva who earn that kind of income have to spend more than one-third of the year working for the government.

The Tax Freedom Day statistics used in this article are provided by tax administration of the canton of Schwyz. The bases of calculations are identical to those use by the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) for its Tax Freedom Day 2011 publication.

The FTA’s Tax Freedom Day calculations differ from those of other sources which also account for other taxes (like value added tax), premiums for mandatory health insurance, and obligatory social security contributions. Additionally, other statistics usually do not account for individual differences between tax payers like their places of residence, civil statuses, and incomes, but are based on data for a country as a whole. Depending on the calculation methods used, the time required to reach Tax Freedom Day can be much longer than what the figures of the FTA suggest.

Is it worth moving to save on taxes?

As the figures show, there are huge differences in how long it takes to reach Tax Freedom Day depending on the various relevant factors. By simply moving from the highest-tax cantonal capital to the one with the lowest taxes, you could immediately cut out two-thirds of the time you have to spend working to support the state.

But depending on your situation, making a major move just to pay less income tax may not make sense. The FTA’s Tax Freedom Day only accounts for income taxes. It does not factor in other taxes, nor other things which affect your finances (like the cost of housing or health insurance premiums). The town of Zug, for example, has a very favorable tax regime, but land prices and rents in that canton are higher than average. Depending on where you move to, you may well end up having to use your tax savings to cover other additional costs. If you are considering moving to a location with lower taxes, make sure to look at all of the other potential cost factors as well.

Regardless of where you live, optimizing your taxes is always beneficial. There are a number of ways to cut out unnecessary tax spending. For example, you can lower your income taxes by using the pillar 3a to save for your old age and protect yourself and your dependents financially. Claiming the tax deductions explained in the moneyland.ch guide to saving on taxes can also significantly lower your income taxes. Some cantons pay interest on taxes paid in advance.

More on this topic:
Tax heaven or tax hell? Switzerland’s municipalities compared
These are the taxes you pay in Switzerland
Simple ways to save on taxes in Switzerland