Not sure if the info I layed down in your thread is gonna get lost. By the time i typed what I had 8 people had posted so I'm gonna throw it up here aswell and add more to it as it goes
I'll try and have as much fact answers and as little filler as possible.
1000 U.S. dollars = 1,119.7 Swiss francs (CHF)
Switzerland GDP (PPP) per Capita = $41,264 - U.S. GDP per Capita = $43,444
Theres
no minimum wage in Switzerland, the most recent data on average wage i could find was from 2001, and that was:
CHF 103,092 a year which is $92,062.9086
Although with modern inflation rates and exchange rates who knows what that now works out to.
Here are some average figures for wages for certain jobsI should state now, anyone intending to move to Switzerland either needs a good skill (doctor, dentist engineer etc), be planning to retire, or have a business with an annual turnover of more than 200,000 CHF. Starting a business is pretty much the easiest way to get residency.
Its by no means easy or cheap, but hey, freedom isn't free
Health care isn't socialized, however it is necessary to have insurance, which admittedly is shit, but for me it and the other few shit points aren't enough to outweigh the benefits compared to other options. I'll go into the insurance system more when i get the time.
Tax rates differ hugely across the country. Each Canton is far more independent in the taxes and laws it can set compared to US states. Zug, my Canton of choice, has the lowest taxes in switzerland, which is less than half of the highest taxed Canton.
Its hard to get a concrete number, as Swiss taxes are pretty diffuse and most of the information tends to be in German and in PDF form which makes it pretty fucking difficult to decypher.
Here's a PDF with Individual and Corporate income taxFor an Individual earning CHF 150,000 ($133,952.55), you will pay CHF 7825 ($6,987) to Zug, which is 5.1% and you will pay CHF 3007 ($2,685), which is 2%.
So total income tax for living in Zug is 7%. Putting this in more day to day numbers, $40,000 a year in zug would be taxed $2,800, thats both the state and federal taxes combined.
Compare this to the most heavily taxed Canton in (Neuenburg) 23,500 CHF + 3007 federal = 26,507 = 17% total income tax
The business end of the deal in Zug is equally low taxed, and the reason why the largest town in Zug has more businesses than people based their.
For a business with 2 million CHF in equity, and a net profit of 160,000 CHF, the tax is 11,000 state, and 11,000 federal.
Which is a combined tax percentage of
13.75%. I believe there is an even lower tax bracket for smaller companies, and a slightly higher 16% rate for even larger businesses, although i've been looking over so many numbers its hard to know which are still relevant and which include which other taxes so by all means crunch the numbers yourself and let me know if i fucked up.
there are other factors which I will compile, and I'm working on a PDF trying to get all this data + the important laws in shiny graphs and charts and shit which i'll throw up here when finished for those who are interested.
I'm going to post this now and come back and add more cause I've had about enough scanning through swiss tax sites for today.
Brasky, sorry I didn't get round to consumer prices and others, I'll finish them off next chance i get, and I'll rattle off the ones I know off the top of my head here.
for immigration, it takes 12 years to become naturalized, although any time you spend their under age 20 counts double.
If you got in on a marriage you get a permanent residency permit, which essentially means you can't be kicked out unless you break enough laws to piss of a bureaucrat. If you're in on a residency work permit, you can get kicked out as soon as you're unemployed for a certain number of weeks (cant remember from the top of my head). If you're in on retirement, you're pretty much in for life, but you have to move with a certain amount of money to get the retirement permit. If you're in on a business residency permit you're there for as long as you have a business.
Immigration guidelines for Europeans
Immigration guidelines for non EuropeansSome laws you probably won't be happy with :
concealed carry permits for handguns are pretty difficult to get
military service for swiss citizens is semi mandatory although it doesn't apply to immigrants to my knowledge, its not mandatory for women and you can get out of it on medical reasons / dismissals, only around
55-60% actually complete the training, and the whole thing is stretched out over a few days a month for a couple of years.
'Conscientious objectors can choose 390 days of community service instead of military service'
Medical insurance is mandatory (i think)
there are probably others that I'll add when i can remember t hem
on the plus side:
carrying a rifle is fine-Cannabis is completely decrim to own, grow (in industrial quantities), and sell (in shops) in 10 out of 26 cantons and rising.
Other drug use is largely tolerated, heroin addicts are given welfare heroin instead of jail time, not ideal, but better than paying for imprisonment, and the
black market impacts are largely alleviated-government hasn't invaded another country in 100+ years (this is what makes the military service tolerable for me, that and the fact that because of the militia system the government will probably never ban assault rifles)
-Prostitution legal
-Euthanasia legal