The following question is regularly asked by our clients:
“If I moved to another commune, would I pay less tax?”
There are indeed significant disparities between communes in terms of the amount of municipal tax and a move can, in fact, impact your tax bill, either upwards or downwards.
The objective of this article is to present to you, in broad outline, the differences in rates between the communes of Geneva.
Here is the ranking of the communes, from the least expensive to the most expensive in the Canton, with a taxable income of CHF 100’000.00.
| Rank | Commune | Communal tax | In % of total |
| 1 | Genthod | 2 899 | 2.90% |
| 2 | Cologny | 3 131 | 3.13% |
| 3 | Collonge- Bellerive | 3 363 | 3.36% |
| 4 | Vandoeuvres | 3 363 | 3.36% |
| 5 | Anières | 3 594 | 3.59% |
| 6 | Pregny- Chambésy | 3 710 | 3.71% |
| 9 | Corsier | 4 058 | 3.83% |
| 10 | Plan-les-Ouates | 4 174 | 3.94% |
| 11 | Veyrier | 4 406 | 4.06% |
| 12 | Satigny | 4 522 | 4.17% |
| 13 | Russin | 4 522 | 4.41% |
| 14 | Presinge | 4 638 | 4.52% |
| 15 | Troinex | 4 638 | 4.52% |
| 16 | Carouge | 4 638 | 4.64% |
| 17 | Bellevue | 4 754 | 4.64% |
| 18 | Meinier | 4 870 | 4.64% |
| 19 | Choulex | 4 870 | 4.75% |
| 20 | Jussy | 4 870 | 4.87% |
| 21 | Hermance | 4 870 | 4.87% |
| 22 | Bardonnex | 4 986 | 4.87% |
| 23 | Cartigny | 4 986 | 4.87% |
| 24 | Perly-Certoux | 4 986 | 4.99% |
| 25 | Soral | 5 102 | 4.99% |
| 26 | Grand-Saconnex | 5 102 | 4.99% |
| 27 | Laconnex | 5 102 | 5.10% |
| 28 | Meyrin | 5 102 | 5.10% |
| 29 | Thônex | 5 102 | 5.10% |
| 30 | Genève | 5 275 | 5.10% |
| 31 | Versoix | 5 276 | 5.10% |
| 32 | Collex-Bossy | 5 334 | 5.28% |
| 33 | Gy | 5 334 | 5.28% |
| 34 | Chêne-Bourg | 5 334 | 5.33% |
| 35 | Confignon | 5 450 | 5.33% |
| 36 | Lancy | 5 450 | 5.33% |
| 37 | Bernex | 5 566 | 5.45% |
| 38 | Dardagny | 5 566 | 5.45% |
| 39 | Puplinge | 5 566 | 5.57% |
| 40 | Avusy | 5 797 | 5.57% |
| 41 | Vernier | 5 797 | 5.57% |
| 42 | Aire-la-ville | 5 797 | 5.80% |
| 43 | Onex | 5 855 | 5.80% |
| 44 | Avully | 5 913 | 5.80% |
| 45 | Chancy | 5 913 | 5.86% |
You will notice that the difference between the cheapest commune (Genthod) and the most expensive ones (Chancy and Avully) is important insofar as the communal tax paid in the first one is CHF 2’899.00 and CHF 5’913.00 in the second one, that is to say a difference of CHF 3’014.00 (50.97%).
It should be remembered that part of the income related to a lucrative activity is attributed to the commune in which the activity is carried out. This implies that the move may have a smaller impact than the figures mentioned above.
In order to illustrate more precisely the impact of a move taking into account the additional centimes attributed to the commune of the activity, here is an example:
Mr and Mrs Dupont are married with one child. Mr. Dupont works 100% in the municipality of Vernier and Mrs. Dupont works 80% in the municipality of Geneva.
The couple’s income and assets are summarised as follows:
| Income
|
||
| Net income from the activity Mr. | CHF | 89’018.00 |
| Net income from the activity Mrs | CHF | 132’760.00 |
| Other income | CHF | 3’800.00 |
| Net income from movable assets | CHF | 186.00 |
| Health insurance premiums | CHF | (9’100.00) |
| Childcare expenses | CHF | (3’284.00) |
| Medical expenses | CHF | (1’144.00) |
| Voluntary contributions and donations | CHF | (360.00) |
| Child deduction | CHF | (10’000.00) |
| Net taxable income | CHF | 201’876.00 |
| Assets
|
||
| Gross movable assets | CHF | 649’984.00 |
| Debts | CHF | (36’180.00) |
| Social deduction on assets | CHF | (208’496.00) |
| Net taxable assets | CHF | 405’308.00 |
The estimated taxes are as follows:
Cantonal tax and direct federal tax
The cantonal tax and the direct federal tax do not vary according to the commune of residence and amount to CHF 32’185.20 and CHF 10’647.00 respectively.
Communal tax
Here is the comparison according to five different communes of residence:
| Domicile | Communal tax |
| Genthod | 10’216.10 |
| Carouge | 10’979.25 |
| Genève | 11’409.00 |
| Lancy | 11’514.15 |
| Chancy | 12’283.75 |
In this case, the same taxpayers with the same income domiciled in the commune of Genthod will pay CHF 2’067.65 (16.83%) less than those domiciled in the commune of Chancy.
