Switzerland.
How Switzerland sells residence for investors (golden visa): 2 programmes, 2 of them open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.
- 501
- numbers
- 19
- prices and rules
- 20
- events
- 11
- documents and articles
Lump-sum taxation
Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.
Official name: Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand / imposition d'après la dépense (Swiss lump-sum taxation)
No investment price: this is a tax regime. The federal minimum taxable expenditure base is CHF 435,000 from 2026 (t-a336fd097b), but that is a tax base, not an amount invested or donated, and cantons set their own minimums.
Notes from the research
Not a residence permit but a tax regime (art. 14 DBG and cantonal law) for foreign nationals who take up residence in Switzerland for the first time (or after 10 years away) and do not work there: tax is assessed on worldwide living expenses, with a federal minimum base of CHF 400,000 from 2016 (indexed: CHF 421,700, then CHF 435,000 from 2026) and at least seven times the rent. Abolished in five cantons (ZH, BS, BL, SH, AR); a national abolition initiative failed in 2014. Non-EU nationals need a cantonal permit (che-wealthy-residence-permit). FDK surveys give taxpayer numbers and revenue to 2018. Launched: the year 1862, when Vaud offered expenditure-based taxation to non-working foreigners, per the Federal Council's 2011 message (BBl 2011 6021); neither the 1862 Vaud text nor the 1934 federal text was found.
Prices and rules
What is measured
- People taxed on a lump-sum (expenditure) basis172
- Tax revenue from lump-sum (expenditure-based) taxation136
- Estimated impact of a rule change on programme users134
- Income of programme migrants19
- Tax paid per lump-sum taxpayer (lowest, highest or average)14
- Change in the number of lump-sum taxpayers7
- Jobs linked to programme migrants (estimate)5
- Change in lump-sum tax revenue4
- Estimated economic benefit of a programme3
- Applicant share2
- Share of lump-sum taxpayers or revenue in a group of regions2
- Cantons applying lump-sum taxation1
- Programme participants who left1
- Average investment per investor (or per property)1
Residence permit for wealthy foreigners
Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.
Official name: Aufenthaltsbewilligung wegen erheblicher kantonaler fiskalischer Interessen (Swiss residence permit for wealthy non-working foreigners, art. 30 para. 1(b) AIG / art. 32 VZAE)
No federal amount: each canton sets its own minimum tax expectation. There are no term rows.
Notes from the research
Cantons may grant a short-stay or residence permit to protect important public interests, including substantial cantonal fiscal interests (art. 32(1)(c) VZAE); used for wealthy non-EU/EFTA nationals who do not work in Switzerland, typically combined with lump-sum taxation. Each canton sets its own minimum tax expectation; no federal amounts. No official statistics on permits granted on this ground were found.
Prices and rules
No prices or conditions recorded yet.
What is measured
No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.
All the numbers we have for Switzerland
Pick what you want to see. Each dot is one number from one document; click anything to open its source.
What happened, and when
The 11 documents behind this page
- 2026-09 · Law or regulationBundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG, SR 642.11), consolidated version of 2 September 2026 · Swiss Confederation (fedlex)
- 2026-08 · NewsBlick hat alle Kantone ausgewertet: Immer weniger Pauschalbesteuerte, aber trotzdem mehr Steuereinnahmen · Blick
- 2025-01 · Law or regulationBundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG, SR 642.11), consolidated version of 1 January 2025 · Swiss Confederation (fedlex)
- 2019-06 · GovernmentDie Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand bringt höhere Erträge trotz weniger Fällen (Medienmitteilung, with annex: Ergebnisse der Umfragen in den Kantonen zur Aufwandbesteuerung) · Konferenz der kantonalen Finanzdirektorinnen und Finanzdirektoren (FDK)
- 2016-01 · Law or regulationBundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer (DBG, SR 642.11), consolidated version of 1 January 2016 · Swiss Confederation (fedlex)
- 2015-06 · IMFVanuatu: 2015 Article IV Consultation and Request for Disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility and Purchase under the Rapid Financing Instrument (IMF Country Report No. 15/149) · International Monetary Fund
- 2015-05 · IMFToo Much of a Good Thing? Prudent Management of Inflows under Economic Citizenship Programs (IMF Working Paper WP/15/93) · International Monetary Fund
- 2014 · ResearchSwissvotes: Volksinitiative "Schluss mit den Steuerprivilegien für Millionäre (Abschaffung der Pauschalbesteuerung)", vote of 30 November 2014 (Kurzbeschreibung) · Swissvotes / Année Politique Suisse, University of Bern
- 2011-06 · GovernmentBotschaft zum Bundesgesetz über die Besteuerung nach dem Aufwand vom 29. Juni 2011 (BBl 2011 6021) · Schweizerischer Bundesrat
- 2008-01 · Law or regulationVerordnung über Zulassung, Aufenthalt und Erwerbstätigkeit (VZAE) vom 24. Oktober 2007, SR 142.201, version in force on 1 January 2008 · Swiss Confederation (fedlex)
- 2006-12 · Law or regulationVerordnung über die Begrenzung der Zahl der Ausländer (BVO) vom 6. Oktober 1986, SR 823.21, version of 12 December 2006 (applicable 1 January 2007) · Swiss Confederation (fedlex)
Who buys passports and golden visas, what they cost, and what happens when governments change the rules. Written from this data, in the newsletter.