Taxes online
Swiss tax for non complicated filings is quite simple. Just go to this link and fill it in, hand over to your employer and you are done.
Tax_Form.pdfYou will need to wait for the tax office to send you a tax number first though... (usually by December).
On an average you pay 20% tax if your spouse doesnt work and 25% if your spouse does work (both pay this tax rate).
Further details (in french) can be found at
Site officiel de l'Etat de Genève
House Hunting
Well a few things about houses in Geneva:
You have to go through a Regis, i.e. an estate agent. The will advertise in the local papers but definitely on the web ---
Most apartments are unfurnished. Furninshed appt cost about 50% more a month and are not necessarily that well furnished.
Everyone scared us of the long waiting lists ... one of the houses I saw, the current tenant had seen 35 houses before he got that one. We were lucky, I was looking for houses in July / Aug when everyone is on holiday, so getting one wasn't too hard.
Typically I went to the website
http://www.easyexpat.com/Geneva_en/accommodation_rent-house-flat.htm which told me a lot about renting and then searched for property specs I wanted at .... Then I simply called the agents to make appointments to go and see the places. Typically they will give you the name and number of the caretaker of the building. So you fix a time (usually the next day sometime) and you and see if you like the place.
PS: Ignore the ones which say HLM - they are for Swiss only (kind of like council houses).
Now is the difficult part. You then go to the Regis to register an interest and they ask you fill a form and provide proof of employment, passport, salary slips/proofs and some sort of guarantee. If you have been in Switzerland guess its easy. For me I got my company to write a letter claiming all the above. They took photocopies and returned the originals which you can reuse for the next Regis for registering an interest is no guarantee of a rental agreement. The Regis will typically advertise the property for a given period or till they get a specific number of interested people. Then they in consultation with the landlord will decide who is the most eligible candidate. Expect the locals & then people who are likely to stay the longest to get precedence.
On your part do continue looking for properties and registering interests. I saw 5 before I got lucky... Here you learn another truth about the Swiss. The Swiss are very closely knit and pride themselves in that. So if you want something done out of turn, talk to someone who knows someone & rest will be easier... Alternately if you have lots of money then of course life is easy as well but then that's true anywhere in the world. For us we got 2 acceptances back of which I chose one (through a friend) and we managed to get the place straightaway. I was still getting replies 1 month later of if we were still interested.
Other things of interest:
- apartments cost much less than houses.
- A good 2 bed appt will cost around 2-2.5k.
- South side of the lake is the best place to live followed by the old town. Areas near the airport tend to be more rundown. The prices reflect this.
- If you live south of the lake, you can choose one of the villages, driving into town is a bit long (double the usual time) but if you take the bus no problems. It is advisable to have a car if you are living in a village.
- The leases are usually long term - you can get less as well. Mine was a 5 yr lease but they said a 3 month notice period is sufficient to get someone in instead.
- Parking is expensive. I pay 220CHF a month extra for a covered parking. Some villages have free offstreet parking. In Geneva you have a parking disc system (covered in travel section of this blog)
- Level of furnishing - An unfurnished house will have the white goods... Notably a dishwasher but no washing machine! There will be a communal washing machine which will be either coin operated or use an electronic rechargeable key. In all a wash cycle will be 1.5CHF (same for a dryer one). A new washing machine (most appt have plumbing for one) will cost about 400CHF. So you do the maths.
- Kitchen size - major crib on this point, Kitchens are really small. Living rooms are big. We got a self assemble big kitchen cupboard thingie - cost 250CHF but suffices.
- Bathroom size - I have seen separate WC and bath, so the WC tends to be a squeeze
- Cellar - All houses in Switzerland need to have an Atomic Bunker by law! This is the cellar. For the more paranoid Swiss it is a place to keep food stock etc, for you and me its a free storage for any unwanted stuff (instead of the garage).
- Landlord - since most house rent themselves, not many people care for the rental property as much. We had some arguments on the level of cleanliness when we moved in. While I wasted some time and breath over the phone, an email with embedded pictures of the issues at hand did the trick and all was resolved without a word more.
- Language ... You need to know French - period! The admin ladies (god bless them) in my office have been the only reason I managed to get things sorted the way they did.
In summary, I saw 5 houses, really liked 2, both outside Geneva. One of these was through a contact in office which helped me to get it real fast and fit well with my planned move from Milton Keynes. Once here, we are getting used to issues which I will post separately. But at least we have a nice cosy apartment in a pretty village with Mountains on one side and the lake on the other... Getting there...
Info on Switzerland
You can get this on the net / on expat websites.
We used the following:
http://geneva.angloinfo.com/default.asp - where to shop etc.
http://www.cagi.ch/en/home.html - some info on permits
http://www.barclays.com/internationalpersonal/ib_4_1_0_guide.htm Barclays site which has a link where you can order a real big fat printout (free) on Switzerland.
Then we got a rough guide to Switzerland as well.
There are a number of Expat organisations here (like
http://www.sindy.ch/) but have yet to explore that...
I have put the link to estate agent websites in the respective sections
Why Switzerland
Why Switzerland...
Well we were well settled in Milton Keynes (UK) till this new job opportunity came calling, a chance to work in Europe and work on some new exciting consulting work, so we thought what the heck, we are young, no kids and it couldnt be all that hard...
Well with the months passing now, we realise its a bit of both ... still excited but one thing switzerland teaches you straightaway... you need to be a planner; If you plan things right you should be fine, else it can be a bit of a shock.
To start with Swiss love the rule book. If its in there, its done as it says, else you CANNOT do it. Also you cannot bend the rules. PS: The rule books are either in German (if you are around Zurich) or French (in Geneva). So its advisable to know either.
Well to start with I will just list the topics and add content to it... so it should be easy if you wish to look up anything in specific.
A Brit in Genva
Yes Guys, we took the plunge and am in Geneva. So decided to make a diary of events ... maybe of some relevance if you plan to move here ...
Feel free to post your questions and I will try and answer them for you the best I can.
Sameer
