The RSU tax bill.
In Switzerland, RSU vesting and stock-option exercise are taxed as ordinary income at your full marginal rate. Once the shares are yours, the later sale is generally tax-free (capital gains rule). Compute the year-of-vest impact below.
How Swiss tax treats equity grants
RSU at vest. Full fair market value × number of vesting shares is added to your ordinary income in the year of vesting. Taxed at your marginal rate (federal + cantonal + commune). Per federal tax circular № 37.
Options at exercise. The bargain element ((FMV − strike) × shares) is the same ordinary-income event. The act of vesting isn't taxable; only exercise is.
Capital gains on later sale: TAX-FREE. Switzerland treats capital gains on private movable assets as tax-exempt (Art. 16 Abs. 3 DBG). So once the shares are yours, the upside from there to sale isn't taxed — provided you don't qualify as a "quasi-professional securities trader" (high turnover, leverage, very short holding periods).
Illiquidity discount. Some cantons apply a discount on restricted (locked-up) shares: typically 6 % per year of remaining lock-up, capped at 10 years (~44 % total discount). This reduces the taxable FMV. ZH and ZG are the most generous on this; SO and JU often apply less.
What's NOT modelled above: social-insurance contributions on the bargain element (AHV/IV/EO/ALV on the employer/employee shares), withholding tax for non-residents, and the special "Bezugsrecht" rules for private companies. For startup equity at a Swiss employer, talk to a fiduciary — these edge cases matter.
Reduce your vest-year tax
- Max your Pillar 3a in the vest year — CHF 7 258 off the top of your highest marginal-rate bracket.
- Buy into your LPP — if you have buy-in capacity, this is the single biggest lever to offset a big vest-year income spike.
- Time the exercise of options — for ISOs (employee options), you control the exercise year. Spread across years to stay in lower marginal-rate bands.
- Consider relocating before a big vest. See cheaper communes — for a CHF 500 k vest, the difference between ZH city and a Zug low-tax commune is CHF 30–80 k.