Leaving Switzerland: complete checklist

Several months before you leave

• Apartment: check the notice period and termination dates in your lease. Notice periods of three months are common, often to specific dates. Give notice in writing, by registered post. Ask whether a replacement tenant could end the lease earlier.
• Contracts: list your contracts (phone, internet, electricity, gym, insurance policies) and check each notice period.
• Employment: confirm your last working day and what happens to your pension fund.
• Children: inform schools and childcare in good time.

Deregister at your commune

Before you leave, deregister at your commune (municipality). Many communes ask you to do this within a set period before departure. You receive a confirmation of departure, which you need for health insurance, taxes, banks and other offices. Return your permit card if requested.

Health insurance and Serafe

• Basic health insurance ends when you leave Switzerland, but your insurer needs proof of departure, usually the commune's confirmation. Send it as soon as you have it.
• Supplementary insurance has its own notice periods; check them separately.
• Serafe (the household radio and TV fee) usually ends automatically once you deregister, but check your final invoice.

Taxes

• If you file ordinary tax returns, you usually need to submit a final tax return for the year you leave.
• If you pay tax at source, your final salary is taxed at source; in some situations a correction or a later ordinary assessment applies.
• Settle open tax bills or arrange how they will be paid. Some cantons ask for a contact address or tax representative abroad.

Pensions: 2nd pillar and 3a

In general terms, when you leave your employer, your pension fund assets are transferred to a vested benefits account or policy, or to a new employer's fund. Whether you can withdraw them in cash depends on where you move: rules differ for EU/EFTA countries and other countries. Pillar 3a may also be withdrawn under certain conditions. Withdrawals are taxed, so get personal advice before you decide.

Car, mail and bank

• Car: decide whether to sell or export it, return the plates to the road traffic office and cancel the car insurance.
• Mail: set up mail forwarding with the post office for the first months.
• Bank: decide whether to keep or close your Swiss account. Some banks limit services for clients abroad. Pay final bills first.
• Keep copies of all confirmations and your final documents.

On your last days

• Clean the apartment and attend the handover; check the handover protocol carefully.
• Ask for the rental deposit to be released once the handover is completed.
• Read final meters and send the readings to providers.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules can vary by canton.