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Who we help · Entrepreneurs / Founders

Financial advice for founders and entrepreneurs in Switzerland

Setting up an AG or GmbH in Switzerland is the easy part. Designing salary and dividend, choosing the right pension fund, planning for an exit and keeping your personal finances aligned with the cap table is where most founders need a second opinion.

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In short

Swiss founders most commonly incorporate either a GmbH (CHF 20'000 minimum capital, fully paid in) or an AG (CHF 100'000 minimum capital, at least CHF 50'000 paid in). Both are taxed at the company level on profit (cantonal corporate tax rates as of 2025 typically range from around 12% in low-tax cantons such as Zug or Schwyz to around 21% in higher-tax cantons), then again personally on salary (income tax) and dividends (partial taxation as a qualified shareholder if you hold at least 10% of the capital). The big planning levers are salary-vs-dividend mix, pillar 2 design at the company, and structuring an eventual exit as a tax-free private capital gain where possible.

What you face

What founders in Switzerland have to figure out

  1. 01

    Choosing the legal form

    GmbH for lower capital and simpler shareholder rules, AG for cleaner equity transfers and easier outside investment. Both work for an operating company - the trade-off shows up later, at financing rounds or exit.

  2. 02

    Salary, dividend and pillar 2 mix

    A higher salary builds pillar 2 capacity but costs social charges; a higher dividend is cheaper but cuts pension and disability cover and triggers personal income tax. The right blend depends on age, income, family and exit plans - and it changes over time.

  3. 03

    Designing your company pension fund

    Your own GmbH/AG can choose a pension foundation, the savings rates (the legal minimum or higher), the insured salary band, and the level of risk cover. Done deliberately, this becomes a major personal tax shelter and protection layer.

  4. 04

    Equity, vesting and reverse vesting

    Founder shares, ESOP / phantom plans, vesting cliffs and SAFEs / convertibles all have Swiss tax consequences. Setting up vesting correctly from day one prevents a nasty 'free shares = taxable income' surprise.

  5. 05

    Exit taxation: capital gain vs salary

    Selling shares as a private individual is, in principle, a tax-free capital gain in Switzerland - but tax authorities can re-qualify proceeds as taxable income (e.g. indirect partial liquidation, transposition, qualified employee equity). Planning the exit structure years before signing matters.

  6. 06

    Personal finance behind the company

    Most founders run a thin personal balance sheet beside a growing cap table. Liquidity, pillar 3a, protection and a clear plan for the day the company isn't your only asset - that's the part most miss.

  7. 07

    Cross-border angles

    Foreign co-founders, US investors, employees in multiple countries, IP held offshore - each adds Swiss tax and reporting questions (transfer pricing, withholding tax on dividends, permanent establishment, FATCA on US directors).

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Build personal wealth at the speed of your company

In a 30-minute call we look at your legal form, salary-dividend mix, pension design and the gap between your cap table and your own balance sheet - then tell you the three moves that matter first.

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How we help

How we help founders

Taxes & pension

Salary/dividend optimisation, pillar 2 design at your company, pillar 3a for you and your spouse, and clean personal filings while the business grows.

Plan founder tax and pension in Switzerland

Investments & wealth

Diversify away from concentration in your own equity - portfolio design that complements (not duplicates) the risk you already carry as a founder.

Diversify wealth alongside your cap table

Finance & mortgage

Independent mortgage advice for founders - banks treat owner-managers carefully, so structuring the conversation matters as much as the numbers.

Plan a mortgage as a Swiss founder

Health insurance

KVG / LAMal, sensible supplementary cover for you and your team, and accident / daily-allowance design at the company level.

Set up health cover for you and your team
Why founders work with us
12-21%
Typical Swiss corporate tax range as of 2025
100%
Independent - no in-house products
4 langs
Advice in EN, DE, IT and FR
CHF 0
First consultation - no obligation
How we work

How we work with founders

A clear three-step process designed to fit around board meetings and fundraising cycles.

1 · Free discovery call

30 minutes on video. We map your company structure, cap table, current salary/dividend mix and the personal-finance gaps.

2 · Your founder roadmap

A written plan covering pay design, pillar 2 setup, pillar 3a, diversification and exit-readiness - explicitly coordinated with your fiduciary or auditor.

3 · Implementation, together

We help execute - pension foundation selection, 3a, portfolio, mortgage and protection - and revisit every year or at major milestones (Series A, secondary, exit).

Tools

Run the numbers yourself

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

Swiss salary calculator

Model different gross-salary levels to see how social charges, withholding and net change as you scale your own pay.

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Pension gap

See the gap between your projected Swiss pension and the income you'll want post-exit.

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Mortgage check

Get an indicative borrowing capacity based on declared salary - useful before you talk to a bank about your own property.

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Tax estimator

Sense-check your personal tax bill across cantons as your salary and dividend change.

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Ask us anything

Ask a founder-specific question

Type your question about legal form, salary/dividend, equity tax or your personal balance sheet. A real Hello Expats advisor reads every message and replies personally - usually within one working day.

FAQ

Founder questions we hear most often

GmbH or AG - which should I incorporate?
For a one- or two-founder operating company in Switzerland, a GmbH is usually enough: minimum capital is CHF 20'000 (fully paid), shareholder rules are simpler and the running cost is lower. An AG (minimum CHF 100'000 capital, at least CHF 50'000 paid in) makes more sense when you expect outside equity investors, ESOP plans for many employees, or a planned trade sale, because shares are easier to transfer and the governance is more familiar to investors.
How should I split my own pay between salary and dividends?
There is no universal answer. A higher salary is more expensive socially (AHV, ALV, pillar 2 contributions) but builds pension and disability cover and is fully deductible at the company level. A higher dividend is cheaper to extract but is partly taxed personally (around 50-70% included in the tax base for qualified shareholders as of 2025, depending on canton) and gives no pension. We typically model 2-3 scenarios alongside your fiduciary before locking in.
Is a sale of my shares really tax-free in Switzerland?
For a private Swiss-resident individual, the sale of shares held in private wealth is in principle a tax-free capital gain. The risk is re-qualification: indirect partial liquidation (selling to a corporate buyer who then drains old reserves), transposition (selling into your own holding for cash) and equity considered 'employee participation' can all turn the proceeds into taxable income. The planning needs to start years before a deal.
Should I set up a holding company?
A Swiss holding above your operating company can be useful for ringfencing IP, holding shares in several subsidiaries, accumulating dividends tax-efficiently and shaping an eventual exit. The trade-offs are running cost, substance requirements and that future dividends to you personally are still taxable. It is a real planning question, not a default - we usually look at it as part of the salary/dividend design.
What happens to my pension fund (pillar 2) when I'm an owner-manager?
As soon as you draw a salary above the entry threshold (CHF 22'680 as of 2025), the company must affiliate to a pension foundation and you have a pillar 2. Owner-managers can typically choose generous savings rates within legal limits and benefit from voluntary buy-ins that are fully tax-deductible, subject to the 3-year lock-up before lump-sum withdrawal.
How do I diversify when most of my wealth is in my own company?
Carefully and deliberately. The first lever is paying yourself enough to build cash and pillar 3a; the second is using a portion of any secondary or dividend to seed an independent portfolio. The portfolio should look nothing like your operating business - typically a low-cost global ETF allocation, with the currency mix matched to your medium-term life plans rather than your cap-table.
Related guides

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Next step

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A 30-minute call with an independent Hello Expats advisor - no obligation, no fees. We sanity-check your structure, pay design and personal-wealth plan as a Swiss-based founder.

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