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Who we help · Employees with stock options

Stock options, RSUs and ESPPs in Switzerland

Equity compensation looks straightforward on the grant letter and gets complicated when it touches Swiss payroll, a cross-border vesting period or a single-stock concentration that quietly becomes most of your net worth. We help you decide what to keep, what to sell and how it gets taxed.

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In short

In Switzerland, the tax treatment of employee equity depends on the type of instrument. Restricted stock units (RSUs) are normally taxed as employment income on the value at vesting, not at grant. Tradable stock options are taxed at grant; non-tradable options are taxed at exercise. Discounted ESPP purchases are taxed on the discount in the year of purchase. All of these are reported on your Swiss salary certificate (Lohnausweis) and are subject to AHV, BVG and (for B-permit holders) withholding tax. If the vesting period spans multiple countries, the taxable amount is allocated pro rata to the days worked in each country.

What you face

What employees with equity have to figure out

  1. 01

    Knowing the right tax event

    RSUs: vesting. Tradable options: grant. Non-tradable options: exercise. ESPP: purchase. Get the wrong event and the wrong year - and the Swiss tax authority and your home country will disagree about who taxes what.

  2. 02

    Cross-border sourcing

    If you joined the Swiss entity mid-grant - or moved away during vesting - the gain is sourced to each country in proportion to days physically worked there. This is one of the most under-reported items in Swiss expat returns.

  3. 03

    Concentration risk

    It's easy to end up with most of your liquid wealth in a single ticker, often denominated in USD. The right diversification plan is usually a rolling sell-and-reinvest discipline, not a hero call on the company's share price.

  4. 04

    Withholding-tax mechanics

    For B-permit holders, equity gains are taxed via Swiss withholding tax on the payroll where possible. When that's not feasible (e.g. post-departure vesting), special reporting kicks in.

  5. 05

    ESPPs and the discount

    ESPP discounts (e.g. 15% below market) are taxable employment income in Switzerland. The market gain or loss after purchase is then a tax-free capital gain - or a private capital loss - in private wealth.

  6. 06

    US persons with foreign-employer equity

    US citizens / green-card holders face simultaneous US tax (income on vest, AMT on incentive options, FBAR on foreign brokerage). We coordinate with your US tax preparer rather than duplicating their job.

  7. 07

    Wealth tax on unvested and vested equity

    Vested shares are part of your taxable wealth at 31 December. Unvested RSUs are usually not - but the rules vary by canton and by plan terms. Worth modelling for higher-balance holders.

Free first call

Turn an equity windfall into a long-term plan

In a 30-minute call we look at your plan rules, vest schedule, concentration level and tax-sourcing - and show you the three moves that most often turn equity from a windfall into compounding wealth.

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How we help

How we help employees with equity

Taxes

Sourcing across countries, treatment of options/RSUs/ESPPs in your Swiss return, NOV (Quellensteuer recalculation) deadline if it helps your filing.

Plan Swiss tax on options and RSUs

Investments

A diversification plan you'll actually stick to - typically a rolling sell-on-vest schedule into a low-cost global portfolio.

Diversify away from a single-stock concentration

Finance & mortgage

Banks treat unvested equity, RSUs and option proceeds carefully for mortgage purposes. We help present income and assets in a way the underwriter can actually use.

Use equity income in a Swiss mortgage application

Health insurance

If a major exercise pushes your income materially higher, premium-reduction eligibility and supplementary insurance plans can shift - we keep these aligned.

Review health cover after an equity event
Why employees with equity work with us
Vest = income
RSUs taxed at vesting in Switzerland
Pro rata
Cross-border sourcing by days worked
100%
Independent - no in-house products
CHF 0
First consultation - no obligation
How we work

How we work with equity-holding employees

A clear three-step process built around your plan documents.

1 · Free discovery call

30 minutes on video. We map your grants, vesting schedule, country history during the vest and your current concentration.

2 · Your equity roadmap

A written plan covering tax events to expect, a rolling diversification schedule, pillar 3a / pillar 2 buy-in opportunities and protection.

3 · Implementation, together

We coordinate with payroll, your broker and your tax preparer to execute - and revisit after each major vest or exercise.

Tools

Run the numbers yourself

Calculators are estimates for planning, not formal tax or investment advice.

Swiss salary calculator

Add an estimated equity gain to your gross to see how net, withholding and social charges change.

Open calculator

Tax estimator

Sense-check your total tax bill in a year with a large vest or exercise.

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Pension gap

Useful when planning to redirect part of post-vest proceeds into pillar 3a or pillar 2 buy-ins.

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Mortgage check

See how a Swiss bank would treat a salary plus typical annual equity income.

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Ask us anything

Ask an equity-specific question

Type your question about RSU sourcing, option exercise, ESPP discount or concentration. A real Hello Expats advisor reads every message and replies personally - usually within one working day.

FAQ

Equity-compensation questions we hear most often

When are my RSUs taxed in Switzerland?
Restricted stock units vest into shares, and the fair market value at vesting is treated as employment income in your Swiss return. It is added to your gross salary, runs through AHV/BVG/withholding tax where applicable, and appears on your Lohnausweis. The subsequent gain or loss when you eventually sell the shares is generally a tax-free private capital gain (or non-deductible loss) in Switzerland.
What about stock options - taxed at grant or at exercise?
Tradable stock options are taxed at grant on their fair value. Non-tradable options (the more common case) are taxed at exercise on the spread between strike and market price. As of 2025, the practice across most cantons follows the federal circular - your employer's plan should specify which category applies and how it is reported on the Lohnausweis.
I joined the Swiss entity mid-vest - how is the gain split between countries?
Switzerland sources the equity gain to the days you physically worked in Switzerland during the relevant vesting period. The other country usually does the same. The result is a pro-rata split: e.g. an RSU granted in Year 1 that vests in Year 4, with 18 of the 48 months physically in Switzerland, would have roughly 18/48 of the vest taxable here. The remaining portion is taxable in the other country, typically with treaty relief.
How are ESPPs taxed in Switzerland?
The discount you receive when buying ESPP shares (commonly 5-15% below market) is treated as employment income in the year of purchase and runs through payroll. The shares themselves then sit in your private wealth - subsequent gain on sale is generally a tax-free capital gain in Switzerland, and the shares are reported on your wealth-tax statement at year-end value.
I have more than half my wealth in my employer's stock - what should I do?
Two principles work better than market timing: (1) sell on vest, every vest, into a diversified portfolio - this stops new compensation from making the concentration worse; (2) trim the existing position on a calendar schedule (e.g. quarterly), not based on price predictions. Pillar 3a, pillar 2 buy-ins and a global ETF allocation are the usual destinations for the proceeds.
Do I really not pay capital gains tax on the shares I sell?
For shares held in private wealth, capital gains are generally tax-free in Switzerland and capital losses are non-deductible. The exception is if your activity is recharacterised as 'commercial securities trading' (frequent, leveraged, derivative-heavy trading), which is rare for an employee selling vested shares. The income tax was already paid at vest or exercise - the gain on the post-vest move is the upside.
Related guides

Keep reading

Next step

Let's plan your equity from grant to exit

A 30-minute call with an independent Hello Expats advisor - no obligation, no fees. We look at your plan, your concentration and your tax sourcing in one conversation.

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