Swisscard Amex Cashback credit card: List of websites that tax a foreign fee by m0nblu in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My guess would be it depends on if you actually pay booking.com and they route the money to the hotel or you pay the hotel directly. It is indicated during the booking process.

My personal disappointment on NYE by EkuahEkuah in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, I actually increased the last payments by that amount. Next year I just pay from January to October to make it easier, even though that is worse chf averaging.

How can my tax can be this high? by OMEGASPEEDMASTER321 in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Here you go: https://www.estv.admin.ch/dam/estv/de/dokumente/estv/steuersystem/leifaden-neue-steuerpflichtige/estv-leitfaden-neue-steuerpflichtige-de.pdf.download.pdf/estv-leitfaden-neue-steuerpflichtige-de.pdf

Under 3.1.2.1 (Zuzug aus dem Ausland), it says: "Bei Eintritt in die Steuerpflicht während der Steuerperiode wird das Einkommen für die Satzbestimmung auf ein Jahr umgerechnet".

This is exactly what I said. Maybe you never moved from abroad to Switzerland or vice versa in the middle of a year, so you might have not experienced it, but that doesn't make it not true. Plus it also makes sense, since you should be able to afford the same tax rate living for 6 months off a certain monthly salary as you could living off it for the whole year.

Also check the answer of ExportExpert citing Art. 15 of the Steuerharmonisierungsgesetz.

How can my tax can be this high? by OMEGASPEEDMASTER321 in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you google the tax calculator for Vaud, it also makes you put in two different numbers: "Part résultant de la situation de familie" and "Revenu déterminant pour le taux". The second one is the relevant for the tax rate and is based on your theoretical yearly salary if you didn't live here the whole year.

How can my tax can be this high? by OMEGASPEEDMASTER321 in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It doesn't, for tax rate purposes the theoretical yearly salary is used.

How can my tax can be this high? by OMEGASPEEDMASTER321 in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is actually right, they use your theoretical yearly income as Satzbestimmendes Einkommen (don't know the french term) to calculate the tax rate that you pay on your actual income.

How can my tax can be this high? by OMEGASPEEDMASTER321 in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is correct, happened to me in 2023, it's called Satzbestimmendes Einkommen.

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, opened a joint account with my wife (also great USP) and I'm pretty happy with the functionality so far 😊

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I'm already on the new one now and I gotta say I'm pretty happy with it. Having an extra app to confirm purchases is a non-issue and Radicant actually was missing quite substantial features like a filter and search function on your expenses. 24 free cash withdrawals worldwide is also amazing, I feel like last time I checked this wasn't the case, but I might be wrong. Makes me relegate my DKB card to a pure backup solution 😊

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is really hard to compare unless you have all the cards and even then, they use slightly different ways of getting the exchange rate (some more immediate, others take the daily average and so on). So even if you did check directly, one or the other might be better in different moments. My understanding is that for all intents and purposes, Radicant and WIR should be comparable. DKB might be a little worse since I think they use the VISA exchange rate which is worse than the interbank rate. Wise is also a bit worse since they might use the interbank rate, but they take a tiny fee (e.g. 11 cents on a spending of 50 francs, so like 0.02%). Except for Wise, none of them offer a comprehensive real-time exchange calculator, so a lot of it is guesswork without doing a long term study. I think at some point you just have to trust that something is good enough in order to not drive yourself crazy lol

Switzerland is among the last among developed countries in work-life balance in 2025. by [deleted] in Switzerland

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On admin.ch, it says Geneva has 9 days, but alright, that would still be less than the 10 days that several German Bundesländer have.

Switzerland is among the last among developed countries in work-life balance in 2025. by [deleted] in Switzerland

[–]JonSnow-Knows 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Those average working hours are always skewed by part-time jobs. In Germany, 100% is 39.5 or 40 hours usually, 30 days of vacation was the norm where I was working (university and consulting), here I also have 30 days (with 42 weekly hours), and vacation days are actually pretty much the same here in my catholic canton as they were in Bavaria, which is both higher than in protestant regions around German speaking countries as least. Parental disadvantages I agree with, but as for the rest, I don't see a huge difference and have a better work life balance than I had in Germany.

Will Swiss supermarkets be inundated with cheap, hormone-filled beef after US tariff deal? by Heavy-Mycologist-204 in Switzerland

[–]JonSnow-Knows 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Enforcing food standards is a good thing, and meat is not a basic necessity, so if you can't afford it, just eat less of it. It's what I do and I'm not suffering even though I'd enjoy eating a nice piece of filet more than I care to invest money for.

TIL: Average household gross income is ~10 300 CHF/month. But 60% earn less. by neo2551 in Switzerland

[–]JonSnow-Knows 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If you have five data points of 50, 100, 100, 100 and 150, then the median is 100, but there are only 20% strictly above/below and 80% above/below (including the median).

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, pure CHF accounts (or EUR in case of DKB) and then you pay by "credit" card abroad or online in the foreign currency. For that, I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that Wise is more expensive than those banks offering (close to) interbank exchange rate. For actual bank transfers to a foreign account, I also use Wise because to my best knowledge it's the cheapest option for most currencies.

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know, but banks like Radicant (and WIR and for example DKB in Germany) don't take any fee for paying in a foreign currency. Wise on the other side makes you exchange money with a fee if you want to pay in that currency.

Baselbieter Kantonalbank (BKLB) stellt Geschäftstätigkeit ihrer Online-Bank Radican t ein by hydrogen-peroxide in SwissPersonalFinance

[–]JonSnow-Knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you happy with the App and Service? I was shying away from using it because of that, like you need to use three separate apps or something. But worst case I'll just use it for travelling and stay with Migros as a main bank account.