Hey everyone, I’ve seen a lot of posts recently from people confused about their net salary or “Quellensteuer” deductions, so I wanted to share a specific detail that many expats (myself included) completely miss. If you are on Permit B and taxed at source, your church tax status is often hidden inside a cryptic code on your monthly payslip. How to check: Look at the “Withholding Tax” (Quellensteuer) line on your payslip. You will see a Tariff Code (Tarif). Code A0Y
Y es Church Tax (Mit Kirchensteuer). You are paying an extra ~8-10% on top of your basic tax. Code A0N
N o Church Tax (Ohne Kirchensteuer). You are exempt. Why this happens: When you register at the Gemeinde/Kreisbüro upon arrival, if you checked “Catholic” or “Protestant” (often thinking it was just for census statistics), you were automatically enrolled in the State Church. This data is sent to the tax office, which assigns you the “Y” code. How to fix it (The “Double Step”): Many people think they just need to tell their boss. That doesn’t work. Step 1: You must send a formal resignation letter (Austrittsschreiben) to your specific local parish (Kirchgemeinde). Step 2: Once you send that, you must notify your HR department to switch your payroll code from A0Y to A0N effective immediately. If you don’t do Step 2, your employer will keep deducting the money even if you left the church. Finding the correct parish address was surprisingly annoying because it depends on your specific street, not just the city. I eventually found a tool that maps the addresses and generates the HR letter automatically. It saved me a massive headache. Hope this tip saves someone a few hundred francs this month! submitted by /u/AwkwardActivity4279
Originally posted by u/AwkwardActivity4279 on r/Switzerland