Switzerland Income Tax by Canton 2026: The Same Income Taxed in Zug, Zurich, Geneva and Three More

Swiss income tax has three layers. The federal government charges direct federal tax, which is the same everywhere: CHF 2,684 on CHF 100,000 of taxable income. Then the canton charges its own tax on its own tariff, and the commune adds a multiplier on top, the Steuerfuss. Those two local layers make up most of the bill. In Zurich, cantonal and communal tax are 83.1% of the total on CHF 100,000.

Cantons compete openly on tax, and a few, Zug among them, have kept rates low for decades. Others fund more services locally and charge more for it. The result is a much wider spread than you'd find between regions in most European countries.

Each figure is total income tax, federal plus cantonal and communal, for a single person with no children living in the canton's capital city. Sort by any column.

The numbers to remember: on CHF 75,000, tax runs from CHF 5,808 in Zug to CHF 16,867 in Basel-Stadt. On CHF 150,000 it runs from CHF 20,511 to CHF 40,852 in Vaud. On CHF 300,000 the gap is CHF 53,021 a year.

These figures start from taxable income, the number at the bottom of your tax return. To get there from a gross salary you subtract AHV/IV/EO and unemployment contributions, your pension fund (Pillar 2) contributions, Pillar 3a payments, professional expenses and insurance deductions. Taxable income is often well below gross salary. Don't read the CHF 100,000 column as "a CHF 100,000 salary", because the real tax on that salary would be lower.

Every canton is progressive, but at very different speeds. In Zug the total tax is 10.0% of taxable income at CHF 100,000 and 18.4% at CHF 300,000. In Zurich it's 15.9% and 29.5%. In Geneva it's 20.7% and 33.1%.

The federal tax adds to this as income rises. It's CHF 401 on CHF 50,000, CHF 2,684 on CHF 100,000 and CHF 12,903 on CHF 200,000.

The order of the dearest cantons also shifts. Basel-Stadt taxes lower incomes heavily, so it's the most expensive of the six at CHF 50,000, at CHF 10,901. Vaud's tariff rises more steeply, so it overtakes at higher incomes: CHF 62,326 on CHF 200,000 against CHF 56,075 in Basel-Stadt.

Both federal and cantonal tariffs give married couples a lower rate on the same joint income. In Zurich, CHF 150,000 costs a couple CHF 24,622 against CHF 30,908 for a single person, a saving of CHF 6,286. In Zug the couple pays CHF 14,588, and in Geneva CHF 28,896.

This compares a couple with a single person on the same income. Two people with separate incomes who marry can pay more, the so-called marriage penalty, because their incomes are added together first.

Every figure comes from this site's Switzerland income tax calculator, which applies the 2026 direct federal tax tariff and estimates cantonal and communal tax for six cantons. The cantonal part is built from anchor points taken from the Federal Tax Administration's official tax calculator for each canton's capital city, with straight lines drawn between them. It's close to the real tariff at the anchors and an approximation in between.

Geneva's 2026 figures were provisional when the calculator was built, because Geneva's 2026 law hadn't been finalised in the federal tool. Treat Geneva as an estimate.

The other 20 cantons. Only six cantons are covered. Some cantons not modelled here are cheaper than Zug's capital, and some are dearer than any shown, so the real Swiss spread is wider.

Your own commune. Each canton is modelled at its capital city. Communes set their own multipliers, and a suburb can be noticeably cheaper or dearer than the city.

Church tax and children. No church tax and no child deductions are included. Both change the result.

Wealth tax. Every canton also taxes net wealth each year. The Switzerland wealth tax calculator covers that.

Tax at source. Foreign workers without a C permit usually pay Quellensteuer through payroll, on separate tables. The Quellensteuer calculator covers that.

Enter your taxable income, canton and marital status in the Switzerland income tax calculator, or see all six cantons side by side in the cantonal tax calculator. A Pillar 3a payment lowers taxable income directly, and the Pillar 3a calculator shows what it saves in each canton. For Swiss wealth tax next to France, Spain and the Netherlands, read our wealth tax comparison.